Confidence High In Qemah

Having won the main trial for Sunday's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at Deauville, Al Shaqab Racing's Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) is in pole position to provide Jean-Claude Rouget with a third straight and fourth overall renewal of the mile Classic. Drawn in seven in the middle for the straight-mile contest, the bay–who was third behind Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in October– was authoritative when taking the G3 Prix de la Grotte at Chantilly Apr. 20. Her 2 1/2-length dismissal of Guy Pariente's re-opposing Kenriya (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) stamped her as a genuine class act, and five Grotte winners have gone on to glory here since 2005. Al Shaqab's racing manager, Harry Herbert, is relishing the prospect of another Classic win in the silks and said, “She ran a very good race in the Boussac last year and she's a filly who did particularly well over the winter. I think everyone saw how impressive she was in her trial, she's well forward and forward in her coat. I know Jean-Claude really rates her and she has a terrific turn of foot, which is a useful weapon to have in a racehorse. I think the straight mile at Deauville will suit. We're very excited about her and we're hopeful she'll be competitive.”

Rupert Pritchard-Gordon added, “She bounces off top-of-the-ground and that's the secret to her. She maybe could have finished a bit closer to Ballydoyle with a clearer run in the Boussac, and even on that form she has a good each-way chance here.”

One who is unexposed is Godolphin's unbeaten Come Alive (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who scored over a mile at Maisons-Laffitte Apr. 19, and John Ferguson, the operation's racing manager and chief executive, is looking forward to seeing what she is made of. “Come Alive is a filly Andre [Fabre] has always held in high regard and the fact that he wants to run her in the Guineas is good enough for me,” he commented.

Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Besharah (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) is the latest in a long line of fast juveniles to be tried in a mile Classic, and her profile is far from convincing where stamina is concerned. Having won the G3 Princess Margaret S. at Ascot and G2 Lowther S. at York and finished third in the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket over six furlongs, the sole British raider was third in the seven-furlong G3 Fred Darling S. staged on the Polytrack at Chelmsford Apr. 16. “Besharah seems in good shape. She had to come from a long way back at Chelmsford and after that William [Haggas] was keen to miss the Guineas at Newmarket and wait for France,” the owner's racing manager, Bruce Raymond, explained. “She hasn't run over a mile, but William feels she'll get the trip, so we'll see. We're hopeful rather than confident.”