Esoterique springs surprise in Prix Rothschild
Esoterique rebounded from a ninth-place finish in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in June to score an upset win in Sunday’s $402,600 Prix Rothschild for fillies and mares over a mile on turf at Deauville, France.
The Group 1 Prix Rothschild featured only four runners, including Integral, who won the Duke of Cambridge and the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, England, in June.
Ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, Esoterique (8-1) closed from last of four to win by three-quarters of a length over Miss France, the English 1000 Guineas winner in May. Esoterique and Miss France gave trainer Andre Fabre a one-two finish in the Prix Rothschild.
Inegral finished third as the 3-5 favorite, and was 1 3/4 lengths in front of L’Amour de Ma Vie.
Esoterique, by Danehill Dancer, won the first Group 1 race of her career in the Prix Rothschild. A 4-year-old, she has won 4 of 9 starts, including the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux in 2013.
Maiden captures German Oaks
Feodora won the first race of her career in Sunday’s $671,000 German Oaks over 1 3/-8 miles on turf at Dusseldorf.
Ridden by Mirco Demuro, Feodora (26-1) closed from the middle of a field of 12 3-year-old fillies to win by 2 1/2 lengths over 9-1 Diamond Dove. Longina (5-2) was third, with the 6-5 favorite Wunder fifth after leading to the final furlong.
Feodora, by the Dashing Blade stallion Lord of England, has made seven starts. Earlier this year, she was 10th in the French Oaks. Feodora races for Gestut Etzean and is trained by Andreas Wohler.