by Myra Lewyn
Rosanara will seek her second straight victory at the top level while bidding to keep her perfect record in tact on Sunday in the $345,275 Criterium International (Fr-G1) for two-year-olds at Saint-Cloud.
After romping to a four-length win in her career debut on September 1 at Longchamp, the gray filly returned a month later at the Parisian racecourse and tallied a two-length triumph in the Total Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches (Fr-G1), one of four victories in Group 1 races for homebreds campaigned by the Aga Khan and his family on the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) undercard.
Rosanara’s victory in the 1,600-meter (7.95-furong) race took on added significance as it marked the first Group 1 win for a juvenile offspring of Sinndar, who joined the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval in Le Mesnil Mauger, France, in 2006.
Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, Rosanara is from Sinndar’s first French-born crop. She could expand her resume to include a classic next season as her primary goal to begin 2010 is the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Fr-G1) (French One Thousand Guineas).
Rosanara will meet males for the first time in the Criterium International, also at 1,600 meters, including Emerald Commander, the only other stakes winner in the seven-horse field.
The Pivotal colt has two wins and one runner-up finish from four career starts in England, including a listed stakes victory at Haydock Park on September 5 in his most recent start for previous trainer Richard Hannon.
A close runner-up to Elusive Pimpernel in the seven-furlong Acomb Stakes (Eng-G3) on August 18 at York, the bay colt rebounded to post a 2½-length victory in the Ascendant Stakes at about a mile on September 5 at Haydock and was subsequently purchased by Godolphin.
Other entrants include Princess Haya’s Prizefighting, who makes a quick turnaround after winning his debut on the all-weather track at Kempton Park on October 26; and Coolmore’s maiden winners Jan Vermeer and Midas Touch.
Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor