03 August 2023 , 16:12
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A French jockey having his first ride at Goodwood earned the wrath of punters for a ride that resulted in star filly Blue Rose Cen suffering her first defeat of the year.
Aurelien Lemaitre and the Christopher Head-trained filly had carried all before them on home soil, winning both the French 1,000 Guineas and French Oaks.
Crossing the Channel for the first time, they went off the heavily backed 10-11 favourite for the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes to win for the fourth time in 2023.
On the track there was little sign of any entente cordiale as the field approached the cutaway in the straight.
Lemaitre made a bid for the rail with 3f to run but had the door shut in his face by Ryan Moore so had to sit behind his rival and wait for a gap to open.
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When Blue Rose Cen did get room to challenge, she made little headway and finished fourth, just over a length behind the 9-1 winner Al Husn.
Goodwood is one of the hardest tracks to ride, particularly for a jockey with no previous experience of the course like Lemaitre.
Former jockey Jason Weaver said on ITV Racing: “There was never going to be any room whatsoever and I’m afraid that can often happen at this particular meeting.”
Punters on social media had little doubt who was at fault for the eclipse of the favourite in a tactical running of the £600,000 race.
“Has that French jockey ever ridden at Goodwood before,” said one. “That’s how not to ride.”
“Well done jockeys keeping french horse boxed in nice, must be very proud,” said another.
While other contributions included: “Poor ride by french jockey. Ryan ain't no blame. French jockey got outsmarted simple as that”, and “Is the jockey on the fav having his first ride in public?”
Head acknowledged Lemaitre’s lack of experience but said he had played a key part in the filly’s success.
“The Yeguada Centurion team and Leopoldo [Fernandez Pujals – owner] are always interested in working with the young ones for the future because it’s important for them to build a team that follows them and we are still working together,” he said.
“Of course, Aurelien was part of the team. It was a very tactical race so of course it was a possibility that kind of thing could happen.”
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