Roly Poly, Persuasive Tackle Qemah in Prix Rothschild
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Photo: Mathea Kelley
Qemah wins the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot
Roly Poly and Persuasive will make the cross-Channel trip to face likely local favorite Qemah in the July 30 Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville.
After finishing second behind Ballydoyle stablemate Winter in the Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) at the Curragh and the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot, Roly Poly scored her first top-level victory July 14 in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.
The War Front filly, out of the Galileo (IRE) mare Misty For Me, is owned by the Coolmore partners and trained by Aidan O'Brien. Ryan Moore, who has ridden three of her four wins, including the Falmouth, is scheduled to cross the Channel for this ride. Roly Poly was bred in Kentucky by the Misty For Me Syndicate.
Persuasive made a good case last year, winning her first four starts. Stepping into group 1 competition for the first time in the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes at Leopardstown, she was second behind Alice Springs. The 4-year-old daughter of Dark Angel, trained by John Gosden for Cheveley Park Stud, attracted Frankie Dettori to ride in her first start of the season.
Topping the local contingent are Qemah, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget for Al Shaqab Racing, and Usherette, a 5-year-old Godolphin runner handled by Andre Fabre.
Qemah, a 4-year-old Danehill Dancer filly, won last year's Coronation Stakes en route to a victory in the Rothschild. In her last outing, she won the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2) at the Royal Meeting. Cristian Demuro rides her for the first time.
Usherette will be looking for a turnaround in her fortunes. The Darley-bred daughter of Shamardal comes off a third-place finish in the Duke of Cambridge—a race she won in 2016. She has not won since then, however, finishing third in all three of her 2017 starts.
Saeed bin Suroor will saddle a second Godolphin runner, Arabian Hope, a 3-year-old Distorted Humor filly who finished third behind Roly Poly in the Falmouth after three straight wins against easier foes.
In all, 10 are set for the straight mile with the going predicted to be good to soft at the seaside course.