Europe
'She has great desire': Balding hails Rothschild heroine Blue Bolt
Sunday's G1 Prix Rothschild saw the same one-two as the G1 Falmouth Stakes, but it was a lot closer between Blue Bolt (Blue Point) and Precise (Starspangledbanner) at the end of the Deauville feature.
Unbeaten in 2026, Juddmonte's 1-2 favourite who also captured Royal Ascot's G2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes drifted left and ended up on the stands' rail under Colin Keane but had enough to deny the Ballydoyle filly by half a length. The early leader Moon Target (Cracksman) was a further one and three-quarter-lengths back in third.
“It wasn't very comfortable watching, but Colin (Keane)'s judged it perfectly,” Andrew Balding said. “She's a powerful traveller with great strength and great desire. She's effective on any ground, which is a big help. We always felt that Leopardstown was her race and afterwards, who knows?”
“She's (Blue Bolt) a powerful traveller with great strength and great desire.” - Andrew Balding
Behind Precise in the early stages this time, Blue Bolt was still able to overhaul the 3-year-old in the final furlong with a fast closing sectional straightened by the fence. There can be no doubt that she is the better of the pair over a mile and with her next target of the G1 Matron Stakes being left-handed looks set to continue the sequence for a while.
“It was pretty straightforward, but she has a tendency to go left when she comes off the bridle and thankfully the rail gave us a little bit of help,” her rider said.
“She's (Blue Bolt) a big physical and likes to get on with it.” - Colin Keane
“She's a big physical and likes to get on with it. She came a long way in a short space of time last year and it's the same this year and there's no reason she can't keep on improving. She definitely won't look out of place against the boys if she goes that way.”
Pedigree notes: Blue Bolt's dam is the G3 Prix Allez France winner Mayhem (Whipper), whose progeny include the Listed scorer and G2 German 1000 Guineas runner-up Sky Angel (Dark Angel) and the dual Listed scorer Sea Theme (Sea The Stars). A full sister to the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Royal Bench and kin to the G3 Ormonde Stakes scorer and G1 Irish Derby third Memphis Tennessee (Hurricane Run), she is also a granddaughter of the G2 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Cerulean Sky (Darshaan).
Cerulean Sky is a full sister to G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf runner-up L'Ancresse and a half to Moonstone, a daughter of Darshaan's Dalakhani who captured the Irish Oaks before producing the Derby runner-up US Army Ranger (Galileo).
Another of the many notable Stakes performers in the dynasty is Full Count Felicia (War Front), the two-time G1 E.P. Taylor Stakes-winning Canadian champion who joined the Yulong broodmare band in 2025 when she was covered by Alabama Express. Mayhem's once-raced 3-year-old full sister to Sky Angel is named Heureuse, while she also has a yearling colt by Baaeed.
Siyouni's Soreanga impressive in the Diana
Sunday's G1 Henkel-Preis der Diana stayed in Germany as Gestut Fahrhof's Soreanga (Siyouni) provided Andreas Wohler with a seventh renewal of the Dusseldorf Classic.
Last seen winning the Hamburger Stutenpreis over this 11-furlong trip, the 7-1 shot was never far from the pace under Eduardo Pedroza and when launched approaching the furlong pole swamped the Prix Saint-Alary winner Lapotheose (Wootton Bassett) to settle the issue. Strong to the line, the homebred had three and a half lengths to spare over that 6-5 favourite, with another three-length margin back to Noble Lips (Gleneagles) in third.
This was Wohler's sixth edition since 2014 and Pedroza's fifth, while it also ended a drought for her owner-breeders since Risen Raven had triumphed in 1994. In total, this was the sixth Diana for Fahrhof.
“She have me a good feel today, she is the type who always gives everything and once we hit the front she drew away,” Pedroza said.
“She (Soreanga) is the type who always gives everything.” - Eduardo Pedroza
Wohler, who was completing the Derby-Oaks double, added, “She coped well with the going today, in Hamburg she did not like it but still managed to win and she had needed that race.”
Pedigree notes: Soreanga is out of the unraced Saltita (Galileo), whose previous Stakes performers are the G1 Criterium International third Salt Bay (Farhh) and the G2 Huxley Stakes third placegetter Palavecino (Cacique). She is a half to the G2 Bavarian Classic winner Saphir (Black Sam Bellamy) and to the triple Listed winner Sarandia (Dansili) who was runner-up in this in 2016.
The third dam is the G2 German 1000 Guineas third Salonrolle (Tirol), ancestress of the G1 Deutsches Derby and G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis hero Sammarco (Soldier Hollow). Saltita's yearling colt is by Blue Point.
