Mqse de Sevigne should repeat last year's double in Prix Romanet

Little stands between Mqse de Sevigne and a remarkable repeat on Sunday at Deauville Racecourse in France.

Mqse de Sevigne last summer won the Group 1 Prix Rothschild over one mile at Deauville before returning three weeks later to land the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at 1 1/4 miles. The mare won the Rothschild on July 28 with much more ease than a year ago, and anything close to a standard performance Sunday will land her a second Romanet.

Just four others are entered in the 1 1/4-mile contest, and none can hold a candle to Mqse de Sevigne, a 5-year-old Siyouni mare trained by Andre Fabre. Mqse de Sevigne didn’t truly hit her stride until last summer and comes into this start a winner in five of her last six outings, her lone defeat during the span a second-place finish behind Inspiral in the one-mile Falmouth Stakes last October. Mqse de Sevigne has gone 3 for 3 this year and from the Romanet will go straight to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, her last start before becoming a broodmare.

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In last year’s Romanet, Mqse de Sevigne topped second-place Via Sistina, with Above the Curve in third. Above the Curve went on to finish second behind Warm Heart in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille, while Via Sistina made her way to Australia, winning a Group 1 there this past March. Nothing like that pair lurks Sunday. At her best, Blue Rose Cen would’ve given Mqse de Sevigne all she could handle, but Blue Rose Cen this season has been a dim shadow of the filly who during 2023 won the French 1000 Guineas, the French Oaks, and the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera. Blue Rose Cen hasn’t raced competitively in her three starts this season and in the Rothschild finished last of seven.

Also carded Sunday is the Group 1 Prix Morny, a straight-course six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds that’s part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the Juvenile Turf Sprint and travel expenses to Del Mar.

The Morny drew a strong field of nine 2-year-olds presumably headed by Shareholder, who won his debut at Beverly Racecourse before capturing the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes over a dozen rivals at the Royal Ascot meeting in his most recent start. England-based Karl Burke trains Shareholder and has a second live horse for the Morny in Arabie, who has won three in a row since a second-place finish in his debut, the last two of them group races over six furlongs at Chantilly Racecourse.

Rashabar, another England shipper, races for the first time since shocking the Group 2 Coventry at Royal Ascot with a victory at odds of 80-1, while Whistlejacket comes from Ireland to start just eight days after a second-place finish as the odds-on favorite in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh. Whistlejack was the odds-on favorite for the Norfolk but checked in fourth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Shareholder.

France-based Daylight proved no match for Arabie in a June stakes race but returned in late July with a comfortable Group 3 win over six furlongs of his own. Polyvega, runner-up in Daylight’s win after a debut victory, also starts in the Morny.

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