Place du Carrousel ($84) uses strong outside rally to take Prix de l’Opera

Longshot Place du Carrousel ran down favored Nashwa to win the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera by three quarters of a length on Sunday at Longchamp Racecourse.

Running the best race of her career over the softest course she’s encountered, Place du Carrousel, who paid $84 to win, came from mid-pack with a strong outside rally under Mickael Barzalona to nab pacesetting Nashwa in the final half-furlong of the 1 1/4-mile Opera. Nashwa had crossed over from post 13 to lead most of the Opera under Hollie Doyle, but could not match late strides with the winner. Above the Curve, who earlier in the year had won the Prix Saint-Alary by one length over Place du Carrousel, was just a nose behind Nashwa in third.

Andre Fabre trains Place du Carrousel, a 3-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega and the Duke of Marmalade mare Traffic Jam, for Al Shaqab Racing. The Opera is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” race for the BC Filly and Mare Turf, and Fabre said Place du Carrousel was a candidate to make the trip to Keeneland next month. Nashwa’s connections said late this summer that the filly was being aimed toward the Filly and Mare Turf. And given trainer Joseph O’Brien’s regular participation in Breeders’ Cup races, there is a strong possibility Above the Curve will come to Keeneland.

*** Kinross likely for BC Mile after Foret score

Space Blues won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Mile following a strong score in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, and Kinross now is likely to try for the same double.

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Kinross was much the best Sunday under Frankie Dettori in the seven-furlong Foret, winning by two lengths over the 3-year-old filly Malavath, who got six pounds from Kinross.

Kinross, a 5-year-old gelding, won his first Group 1 while racing right-handed over a very soft course, but earlier this year he won the Group 2 City of York Stakes over firm going at York, a left-handed, relatively flat English track that more closely resembles American racecourses than most European venues.

Trainer Ralph Beckett said after the Foret that Kinross probably would go on to the BC Mile at Keeneland. Kinross, who’d been fourth in the 2021 Foret, is by Kingman out of Ceilidh House, by Selkirk.

*** The Platinum Queen beats elders in l’Abbaye, likely BC bound

The Platinum Queen became the first 2-year-old since the filly Sigy in 1978 to beat older horses in the five-furlong, straight-course Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp.

Getting between 21 and 24 pounds from the older horses in the race, The Platinum Queen won by a head over 30-1 shot White Lavender, with Coeur De Pierre a close third. Hollie Doyle rode the winner, who’d been second behind Highfield Princess in the Nunthorpe Stakes trying older rivals on Aug. 19 at York. Trained by Richard Fahey, The Platinum Queen is by Cotai Glory out of Thrilled, by Kodiac.

The Abbaye is a BC Challenge race for the BC Turf Sprint, and while The Platinum Queen as a 2-year-old isn’t eligible for that race, connections said they likely would use the “Win and You’re In” provision to send The Platinum Queen to the Juvenile Turf Sprint next month at Keeneland.

*** Blue Rose Cen, Belbek tally in 2-year-old G1s

Blue Rose Cen was a five-length winner of the Group 1 Pric Marcel-Boussac for 2-year-old fillies, giving an Arc Day win to the young trainer Christopher Head, the son of trainer and former jockey Freddie Head.

Ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre, Blue Rose Cen came through along the inside in the one-turn-mile Boussac and cruised to an easy win, her fourth from six starts this year. By Churchill out of Queen Blossom, by Jeremy, Blue Rose Cen gained fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by virtue of her Sunday score, and her trainer said the filly was a possible runner in the race.

The male 2-year-old Group 1 winner Sunday, Belbek, is unlikely to travel to Keeneland for the BC Juvenile, trainer Andre Fabre said after sending Belbek out to a neck win in the Jean-Luc Largardere. Belbek, a 17-1 shot ridden by Mickael Barzalona, was up by a neck over Gamestop in this seven-furlong contest. The race’s possible favorite, The Antarctic, was scratched on Sunday. Belbek is by Showcasing out of Bee Queen, by Makfi.

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