2 October 2022
Photos : scoopdyga.com
October 1st, 2022, ParisLongchamp Racecourse (Paris). – Winner of the Darley Prix de Pomone (Gr2) last Summer in Deauville, Sea la Rosa (Sea The Stars) confirms in the Qatar Prix de Royallieu (Gr1) with Tom Marquand.
Ottilien (Holy Roman Emperor) was the early leader of the 1m6f fillies and mares race, and she never quite gave in. Yet she was no match for Sea la Rosa (Sea The Stars), while Jannah Flower (Olympic Glory) finished well too to get the 2nd place close to the post at one length, posting the best furlong in 11''92.
Sea La Rosa is racing for the same connections as her sire Sea the Stars, the Tsui family represented by Sunderland Holding. Trained by William Haggas, she was featured in a few handicaps at 3 and finished the 2021 season with 3rd place in a Group 3 before winning a Listed event run over 1m5f at Lingfield. She won again for her comeback over 1m4f in a females' Gr3 at Haydock but was then well beaten, still 2nd though, in the Lancashire Oaks (Gr2). Sea La Rosa went on to win the Lillie Langtry Stakes (Gr2) at Goodwood and bravely carried 4lbs in the Pomone.
Sea La Rosa was bought for €200,000 at Deauville in 2019. She was also listed in the Tattersalls December sales last year but was withdrawn. Her full brother Deauville Legend won the Great Voltigeur Stakes (Gr2) at York and is expected to run in the Melbourne Cup.
WHAT CONNECTIONS SAID :
Christopher Tsui (the owner of Sea La Rosa, 1st) (GB)
"It's provided for a lot of emotion... I recall those moments almost 30 years ago, when I was a child. Accompanied by my father, I witnessed the success of Urban Sea in the Arc... This story began with her and since then, it has snowballed via Sea the Stars and his daughters, Sea Of Class and Sea la Rosa. It's been three years since I was last in France following the outbreak of Covid. It was not an easy journey as there were no flights from Hong Kong, so it was quite a long journey! I‘m delighted with this victory and also am very moved by it. We still have a runner tomorrow... Regarding the filly’s next race, we will all get together and mull it over; nothing is decided yet."
Pascal Bary (trainer of Jannah Flower, 2nd) (Chantilly – Oise region)
"This second place is very encouraging. I’ve geared her whole season around this race. She is a filly who loves Longchamp, and she relished the fact that there was plenty of give in the ground. Jannah Flower could stay in training next year."
David Menuisier (trainer of Ottilien, 3rd) (Trained in Britain)
"When she won the Prix Turenne in Saint-Cloud, she needed this race. But she proved today that she’s up to this class. I am very happy! We decided to slow the pace during the race, because despite the fact that nobody wanted to go to the front, we didn't want to set the race up for the rest of the field. She doesn’t have a turn of foot but the filly does stay on, and we got beaten by two fillies who have a good turn of foot. I think she will stay in training at four. As she has had a light campaign, it’s possible that she will run again this year. The first option is Ascot, and the second would be to supplement her for the Grosser Preis von Bayern which is run in Munich. I think that she would be hard to beat in Germany over 2,400 metres, and given heavy ground."