Blue Rose Cen will head to the Prix Vermeille in a bid for further Group One success after her Nassau Stakes outing ultimately ended in disappointment.

The Churchill filly has been the star of Christopher Head’s stable this season, winning three of her four runs and backing up a successful juvenile campaign in which she was a Group One winner in the Prix Marcel Boussac.

Her three-year-old season started in the Prix de la Grotte, a Group Three she won comfortably before landing the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, over the same ParisLongchamp mile the following month.

A further start at Group One level ended in a four-length victory in the Prix de Diane, a performance that paved the way to Goodwood’s flagship summer meeting.

She started as the 10-11 favourite under Aurelien Lemaitre, but the race did not go as planned when the partnership found themselves boxed in two furlongs from home and could not throw down a challenge until it was too late.

Blue Rose Cen had to settle for fourth behind Al Husn, Above The Curve and Nashwa, but was only beaten a length and a quarter in a tight finish.

The Prix Vermeille, over a mile and a half on Arc trials day back at ParisLongchamp, is next on the agenda as she steps up in trip again.

“She is very well, she had a good journey back from France and everything is all right,” Head said.

“Everything has gone smoothly with her since Goodwood and she worked well (on Wednesday morning).

“We’re still hoping to go through with the schedule we had in mind for her and the Vermeille is the plan – everything is good.”

Head has a another top-quality filly in the two-year-old Ramatuelle, a chestnut daughter of Justify who is partly owned by the NBA hall of famer Tony Parker.

Ramatuelle has won three of her four starts so far, with the last two successes coming at Group level as she landed the Prix du Bois by five lengths and the Prix Robert Papin by four.

The Prix Morny, a six-furlong Group One run at Deauville, is now the target.

“She’s doing fine, she’s really good,” Head said.

“She’s just full of speed and I have entered her in the Morny, that is going to be the plan for her.

“I’m very happy with her. She runs over that distance and at that pace really fluently, we are delighted to see her win her races and we just can’t wait to see her run again.”

Christopher Head felt the tactical nature of the Qatar Nassau Stakes meant Goodwood racegoers did not get to see odds-on favourite Blue Rose Cen at her best.

Blue Rose Cen, who had won both the French 1000 Guineas and French Oaks, got little luck in running under Aurelien Lemaitre and she could finish only fourth behind surprise winner Al Husn.

Lemaitre ended up stuck behind Ryan Moore aboard the eventual runner-up Above The Curve and failed to quicken when the belated gap finally arrived.

Head said: “It was a good opportunity to challenge for a Group One, but things didn’t work out for her. I will have to speak to the owners and we will discuss a plan. It could include the Prix de l’Opéra.”

He went on: “It was a very tactical race so of course it was a possibility that kind of thing could happen. She ran a nice race, she did her race, and for sure would have been closer in a different position.

“I still think Blue Rose Cen ran a very nice race and she will get into the rest of the programme at the end of the season.

“It’s different here, so we need to respect and go into the racing with the fact that, even with a strong possibility of winning, there is still a possibility to fail.”

On Lemaitre having not ridden at Goodwood before, the Chantilly-based handler added: “The Yeguada Centurion team and Leopold (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. Of course, Aurelien was part of the team.

“We will have to discuss with Leopoldo and we will come back with a programme.

“I need to talk to see what the team want to do with her. This was a nice opportunity because we need to exist at that type of race. It hasn’t been won by France since the beginning, so it was still a challenge.”

Nashwa found a combination of soft ground and an extra two furlongs from the Falmouth Stakes, in which she was at her brilliant best, costing her dearly as she finished in third place.

Thady Gosden felt the ground blunted the class of Hollie Doyle’s mount.

He said: “She’s run a very good race, obviously. They went a slow pace and it’s very difficult to pick up in this ground.

“She travelled into the race well but you can’t quicken on ground like this and that’s sucked the class out of her.

“She ran on very well, but she’s a filly who won last over a mile and she showed a brilliant turn of foot there in ground that was soft, but obviously not as soft and easier to quicken through, whereas today she’s run a very good race but couldn’t quite show that brilliance we’ve seen before with her.

“It was a testing mile and a quarter but they didn’t go overly fast in front, and obviously the winner is a very good filly. Hollie gave her a great ride.”

Doyle also pointed to the extra two furlongs not playing to her strengths, with the winner franking the form of their previous clash in the Hoppings Stakes on the all-weather at Newcastle.

She said: “There was no pace early on, but she relaxed beautifully. They got racing early enough coming down the hill and I was just trying to sit and hold on to her as long as I could, and I went there with a double handful at the two-pole.

“A furlong and a half out I went to win my race, pushed the button and she quickened. I just think in the final furlong I lacked a bit of stamina. It’s happened a few times now, and even today I rode her the opposite way and it confirmed what we might have thought.

“Take nothing away from the winner, who is very good.”

French trainer Christopher Head is excited to see how the “filly of my life” Blue Rose Cen shapes up against Nashwa in a mouthwatering Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Unbeaten in three starts this season, Blue Rose Cen landed the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and then produced a powerful performance over an extended 10 furlongs, winning a deep Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly by four lengths.

Last year she won four of her six starts, culminating in another top-class success in the Prix Marcel Boussac, to be crowned the French champion two-year-old.

Her first crack at the older generation comes on her international debut. And Head is relishing the chance to visit a track where Solow landed the Sussex Stakes for his father, Freddy, in 2015.

“Everything is all right – all lights are green,” said Head.

“She has had a brilliant preparation and we are very happy with her, and we can’t wait to get to Goodwood races.

“She is a wonderful filly, the filly of my life for now, and I’m really happy to have the luck to train her.

“It has been a tremendous season with her and we can’t wait to see what she is capable of doing at the Goodwood track.”

Head is a fifth generation of his family to excel in the thoroughbred business. He is the son of Freddy, the multiple champion-jockey-turned-trainer, and grandson of Alec, something akin to French racing royalty.

While this will be Head’s first runner at the undulating circuit, he is no stranger to British racing and is keen to see how far the daughter of Churchill can climb.

“It has been a very nice run and I think it is a very tactical racetrack and a very interesting one,” he added.

“I can’t wait to get into it, because there is such a good atmosphere at the races in the UK and it is really a unique feeling when you run a horse there.”

The Chantilly-based handler has no qualms that Blue Rose Cen will handle the rain-soaked ground.

“The ground should not be any issue for her,” he said. “She has already encountered various tracks and there is no problem at any of them.”

Though he initially felt she was a 10-furlong filly on pedigree, he is exploring the possibility of seeing her race over further.

“We will need to see her run, but there is a project about seeing what she is capable of doing in a staying capacity, such as the Vermeille, just to see if she is capable of going further,” he added.

“We don’t have the limit of the filly now – she looks like she can do everything! For now, she has the benefit of choice.”

Five fillies stand in her way, including Roger Varian’s Al Husn, who won the Group Three Hoppings Fillies’ Stakes, at Newcastle, and Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve, who won the top-level Prix Saint-Alary last season.

Nashwa, though, would appear to be Blue Rose Cen’s biggest danger. The John and Thady Gosden-trained four-year-old won this race last year, having previously given Hollie Doyle her first Classic success in the Prix de Diane.

The daughter of Frankel, who is rated 2lb superior on official ratings, will be conceding 8lb to the French raider due to the weight-for-age structure.

She took her time to find her form this season, and was narrowly beaten by Al Husn at Newcastle, but was subsequently an eyecatching winner of the Group One Falmouth at Newmarket, where she powered to a five-length success back over a mile.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Imad Al Sagar, who owns Nashwa, feels she is up to the task now she has found her form.

He said: “She’s in good form, actually. She came out of the Falmouth really well. I think it was so encouraging the way she did it at Newmarket.

“Everybody’s faith has been repaid, as it were. She looked good and had done well over the winter and, if anything, might have done a bit too well.

““She is a big, scopey filly and sometimes they just take a little while to come to themselves. It was never that she worked badly, she was always going nicely, but I think after Newcastle, it looked like she suddenly began to take hold of the bridle.

“She settled really well at Newmarket and showed a really good turn of foot, galloped out well and wasn’t stopping.”

Nashwa justified favouritism, beating Aristia by a length and three-quarters in the race 12 months ago, but Grimthorpe knows she faces a tough task against Blue Rose Cen.

He added: “We know she acts at Goodwood, anyway. It is a very interesting race and the French filly looks exceptional. It is going to be a good race.

“We are always hopeful, but the good thing is she is going into the race how we’d want her to.”

Nine horse remain in contention for the Group One Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Thursday, where there is the prospect of a fascinating clash between French star Blue Rose Cen and multiple top-level winner Nashwa.

The meeting of the last two winners of the Prix de Diane is the highlight on another stellar day’s racing on the Sussex Downs.

Trainer Christopher Head’s dual Classic winner Blue Rose Cen has been aimed at the 10-furlong event since producing another eye-catching display – a seventh victory in nine starts – at Chantilly last month.

Nashwa has taken time to come to hand this term, but she will bid to defend her Nassau crown on the back of a scintillating performance over a mile in the Falmouth at Newmarket.

John and Thady Gosden could be double-handed with Running Lion joining her.

The Roger Varian-trained Al Husn, who defeated Nashwa in a Group Three on the all-weather at Newcastle, could take her on again, while Aidan O’Brien is bidding for a fifth win in the race and has three possible runners, headed by Ribblesdale winner Warm Heart.

Oaks-placed Caernarfon, trained by Jack Channon, is also among those remaining along with Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve.

There are 26 entries for the Group Two Markel Richmond Stakes, including the classy Jasour, who took the July Stakes at Newmarket in fine style on his third start for Clive Cox.

Richard Hannon bids to land the six-furlong event for a third time, relying on eyecatching Newbury novice winner Baheer.

Karl Burke’s Kylian is on a hat-trick after Listed success at Sandown last time out, while O’Brien has five entries, including the Railway Stakes runner-up and third, Unquestionable and His Majesty.

Alice Haynes looks poised to run Asadna, who was third to Action Point when favourite for Newbury’s Listed Rose Bowl last weekend.

She said: “All good with Asadna – we have given him the Richmond entry today and all roads are leading there.

“Obviously I think the ground there will be testing next week either way, but everyone is in that same situation.

“Part of the problem is he needs faster ground. A faster pace will suit him, they went no pace at Newbury at all. Hollie (Doyle) got a lead and they all stacked up and sprinted. He will appreciate a fast pace to aim at.

“Long term, he’s in the Gimcrack and there are plenty of options for him going forward.”

A possible 10 three-year-olds will line up in the Group Three John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes.

They include Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris runner-up Adelaide River and last season’s Criterium International second Espionage, who could both represent O’Brien’s Ballydoyle yard.

Godolphin-owned duo Bold Act (Charlie Appleby) and Chesspiece (Simon and Ed Crisford), King Edward VII Stakes third Artistic Star (Ralph Beckett) and the King’s Royal Ascot winner Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes for trainer William Haggas, are other potential participants in the mile-and-a-half contest.

Blue Rose Cen is set to make her British bow in the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on August 3.

Christopher Head’s French star completed a rare treble at Chantilly when strolling to victory in the Prix de Diane earlier this month, adding to victories in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and last year’s Marcel Boussac – a feat previously achieved by the likes of Zarkava, Divine Proportions and Allez France.

Blue Rose Cen, who has won seven of her nine outings, was stepping up to an extended 10 furlongs for the first time at Chantilly and Head is eager to stick at that trip as the Churchill filly takes on older rivals for the first on the Sussex Downs.

He told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “The main idea is to still keep up with the challenges. The owner has always been bold and daring in racing challenges and we have been talking about the next stage for Blue Rose Cen and he wants to go to the Nassau to do the same as Nashwa did with the Prix de Diane and Nassau double and we really have great faith in her with that programme.

“I don’t think we have got to the limit of that filly yet. I still want to encounter the older fillies without getting into a new distance, so we’ll keep with the distance we know she is best at right now and try to encounter a new panel of fillies to be able to know if she is capable of getting into the Vermeille and then we will pretty much know if she is an Arc or an Opera (horse).

“Even if she is not in the race, it is a possibility she can still be supplemented into the Arc. Leopoldo Fernández Pujals of Yeguada Centurion is a really a bold and daring individual, embracing challenges, so we’re trying to do our best to get the horses to those kind of challenges, and that’s why we’re happy to go to the Nassau.”

Head also trains Big Rock for the same owner, but he failed in his Classic mission when beaten three and a half lengths by Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club.

That was his first attempt over further than nine furlongs and Head feels his future now lies over a mile.

He added: “He’s pretty much a mile horse or a 1800-metre horse and we learned that in the Jockey Club. We will put him onto another path which is the Jacques Le Marois and probably the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes too.”