Senorita Bonita comes out tops

DEAUVILLE – Senorita Bonita blew her rivals away with an explosive turn of foot to claim the €350,000 (S$519,000) Group 1 Prix Morny (1,200m) at Deauville on Aug 23.

Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, the Starspangledbanner two-year-old filly was at her fourth career start, but only her first outside of England.

Senorita Bonita – which means “pretty young lady” in Spanish – had five-time British champion jockey Oisin Murphy in the irons again after the pair won her last start in the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (1,200m) at Newmarket on July 10.

One of three runners from Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien’s yard, Carry The Flag (Ronan Whelan) set an extremely strong pace from the outset and led by four lengths from the Robson Aguiar-trained Tribeca (Pierre-Charles Boudot).

Orthodox (Rossa Ryan) sat in third and also tried to keep up with the hot tempo set by the leader, but both Tribeca and Orthodox were a spent force towards the end, eventually finishing last and second-last respectively.

By contrast, the two most fancied fillies in the race, Britain’s Senorita Bonita and France’s Kosuma (Maxime Guyon), were patiently ridden towards the rear, setting off in pursuit of the leader only inside the final 200 metres.

Senorita Bonita ($17) launched her challenge along the nearside rails, while the Andre Fabre-trained Kosuma came motoring down the centre of the track, threading her way through the field.

The outcome vindicated the tactics adopted atop Senorita Bonita.

Murphy elected to use the rails on the grandstand side, which is a significant advantage at Deauville.

When Senorita Bonita changed leads and began to accelerate at the 150 metres, all eyes were on her to catch Carry The Flag.

The chestnut filly then unleashed an electric turn of foot to win easily by four lengths.

The brave front runner Carry The Flag held on for second, narrowly ahead of the fast-finishing Kosuma, who finished another short neck away in third.

Simon, father of the training duo, was impressed with the filly at her first Group 1 success and is now looking at the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes (1,200m) at Newmarket on Sept 26 for her.

“Her acceleration is incredible. She was a very good filly before today; now she is a Group 1 winner,” he said.

“Senorita Bonita was a little slow away and found herself slightly detached from the field while they were going very fast up front. But her turn of foot is electric and she finished the race remarkably well.

“We will now head to the Cheveley Park Stakes, where we will come up against Sun Goddess and Libertango. It will certainly be one of the highlights of the autumn.”

Senorita Bonita, who was purchased at a two-year-old sale in Britain for almost €1 million in April 2026, has now recorded three wins and one second from four starts all over the sprints.

But her co-trainer is considering to race her over longer in 2027.

“She now goes into that race as a top-class Group 1 winner. Senorita Bonita breezed exceptionally well, which explains the price she made at the sales,” he said.

“She also has a very good temperament. She has always shown a lot of ability and I think we have every reason to be excited about her. I hope she can also have a very good three-year-old campaign.

“She is clearly among the very best two-year-old fillies. When you look at her dam’s side, there is also a lot to like.

“You can certainly imagine her developing into a Classic filly. Her dam is by Ruler of the World and it is a family with stamina. Physically, to be honest, she doesn’t look like a staying filly. But next year, we will certainly try stepping her up in trip.

“Obviously, we need to discuss everything with Sheikh Khalid and Sheikh Nasser, her owners. They will decide on her programme. But they have bought a very good one here.”

Senorita Bonita is owned by the two brothers from Bahrain’s royal family, Sheikh Nasser and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and runs under the Victorious Forever stable.

With more than 60 horses under their banner, the Bahraini-owned stable has rapidly emerged as a rising force on the international racing scene.

In Europe, their champions have already enjoyed major success. Caballo De Mar just won the Group 1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier (3,100m) in May, and the team had also won the Prix Morny in 2023 with Vandeek, also trained in Britain by the Crisfords.

“They have enjoyed tremendous success at the highest level with a number of very good horses purchased in recent years,” said Simon. “It is fantastic for them, for Bahrain’s racing industry and for the country. They are becoming a genuine force among racehorse owners.

“And it is thoroughly deserved. They are putting a huge amount of effort into the project.

“Victorious Forever is still a young and rapidly developing team, full of enthusiasm and very supportive of international racing. It is fantastic to have them here.” FRANCE GALOP

Additional reporting by Sharon Zhang