France: Aventure has easy time with Prix Jean Romanet

Aventure scored a sharp win in the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France, handing favored Diamond Necklace the first defeat of her career, and doing so handily.

Aventure sliced between horses in upper stretch, accelerated brilliantly over a sodden course, and came home two lengths ahead of second-place Diamond Necklace.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Diamond Necklace came into the 1 1/4-mile Romanet unbeaten after six starts, including three Group 1s in France – among them the French 1000 Guineas and the French Oaks – and a victory over older rivals last month in the Group 1 Nassau at Goodwood. O’Brien declined to use soft ground as an excuse Sunday, saying Diamond Necklace had just lost to a better horse.

Aventure, a 5-year-old Wertheimer et Frere homebred trained by Christophe Ferland, was back to her best in the Romanet, her first top-level score since the Prix Vermeille last September. Two Octobers ago, Aventure finished second in the Arc, probably the best she ever has run, but she checked in 10th in last year’s renewal and has a different October goal this year – the Breeders’ Cup.

Ferland said plans call for Aventure, a daughter of Sea the Stars, to start Oct. 4 in the Prix de la Opera before shipping to Keeneland for a Breeders’ Cup race, though Ferland didn’t specify whether that would be the Turf over 1 1/2 miles, or the Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/16 miles.

One race before the Romanet, the filly Senorita Bonita rolled home an impressive four-length winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny, a six-furlong straight-course race for juveniles.

Carry the Flag set a breakneck pace in the Morny, holding a wide advantage until 1 1/2 furlongs remained and he began coming back to the field. As Carry the Flag faded, Senorita Bonita and jockey Oisin Murphy started flying, powering up the rail with a flashy move, much the best in the Morny.

Carry the Flag held second by a head over Kotsuma after Great Barrier Reef, one of the favorites, was scratched.

Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, Senorita Bonita, a daughter of Starspangledbanner, now has won three of four starts, her lone defeat a second of 27 in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. She runs next in the Group 1 Cheveley Park, another straight-course six-furlong contest, on Sept. 26 at Newmarket.

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