France: Fallen Angel flies high with narrow Prix Rothschild triumph

Fallen Angel, winning at the Group 1 level for the first time in 14 months, captured the Group 1 Prix Rothschild by a head Sunday at Deauville Racecourse.

The early leader in the Rothschild, a straight-course mile for fillies and mares, Fallen Angel was headed inside the final furlong by favored January but came back and eked out a narrow victory, her first top-level score since the Irish 1000 Guineas in late May 2024.

Danny Tudhope piloted Fallen Angel in the Irish Guineas, but didn’t ride the 4-year-old filly in her next four starts before regaining the mount Sunday. Fallen Angel, who campaigns for Wathnan Racing, trains in England with Karl Burke.

After a winter break, Fallen Angel appeared to need her 2025 comeback start in the J.T. Lockinge Stakes in May, was a somewhat better third in the Duke of Cambridge at Royal Ascot in June, and got back to her best at Deauville while making her second start in France, her first a mild fourth-place finish last fall in the Prix de l’Opera. That race marked an experiment over 1 1/4 miles, and Fallen Angel best suits one mile.

This year’s experiment: cheek pieces, which Burke added after the Lockinge. Perhaps they worked. January, a 3-year-old filly getting eight pounds from Fallen Angel, bid boldly with about a quarter-mile remaining and appeared to have victory in her sights before Fallen Angel fought back and turned her away.

The top two proved much the best, with longshot Start of Day 1 1/2 lengths behind January in third.

Fallen Angel is by Too Darn Hot out of Agnes Stewart, by Lawman. Wathnan purchased her from Clipper Logistics in September 2024.

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