Camelot’s Brave Bluestocking Captures Prix Vermeille

Bluestocking (4f Camelot – Emulous, by Dansili) shortened dramatically in price for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after landed a red-hot renewal of the Group 1 Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on Sunday.

Ralph Beckett’s charge gained a deserved top-flight success in the Pretty Polly Stakes earlier this season, before finishing a gallant second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and was sent off favourite to double her Group 1 tally on Sunday. Chasing the leader under Rossa Ryan, the daughter of Camelot led from three furlongs out and was ridden approaching the two furlong marker. Headed by Aventure a furlong from home, the Juddmonte homebred refused to lie down and battled back to lead by three parts of a length on the line.

The game performance saw bookmakers revise her Arc price to as short as 7/1, and on whether she might be supplemented for the showpiece, Beckett commented, “She showed a real liking for the place today and that’s very relevant.”

The alternative is the Fillies and Mares Stakes on British Champions Days, on which Beckett reflected, “If we have a wet two weeks or a wet ten days leading up to Ascot, that would temper enthusiasm. History would say it’s at least a possibility.”