Senorita Bonita Storms To Prix Morny Glory In Deauville
A Filly Finds Her Turn Of Foot
Held up several lengths off the pace as Carry The Flag dragged the field through a demanding gallop, the challenge facing Oisin Murphy still looked, in Simon Crisford's own words, like "a mountain to climb" approaching halfway. What followed inside the closing stages reshaped the picture completely, as the response off his rider's shoulder arrived in one sustained burst and carried clear of the field before the furlong pole.
The Gr.1 Prix Morny was run over six furlongs at Deauville on 23 August 2026, where Senorita Bonita, a 2YO filly trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, beat Carry The Flag by four lengths in a time of 1:08.79 to collect US$234,000 (€199,990) of the US$389,000 (€333,315) purse. Ridden by Murphy and owned by Victorious Forever, the winner recorded her first Group One victory, with Kosuma a further short neck back in third.
Stirred into her run with 350 metres remaining, Senorita Bonita quickened into second approaching the final furlong, switching to the grandstand rail as Kosuma made her challenge through the centre of the course. "She's got an amazing turn of foot and was a bit slowly away today and a bit behind the bridle as they were going quick in front," joint-trainer Simon Crisford said. "But her turn of foot is electric and she finished off the race superbly well." Carry The Flag, sent forward by Ronan Whelan to a clear early advantage, held on for second, a short neck ahead of Kosuma, while Clive Cox's Orthodox, the Gr.2 Norfolk Stakes winner at Royal Ascot and a doubt over the ground beforehand, trailed home sixth of the seven finishers after Aidan O'Brien's Gr.2 Coventry Stakes winner Great Barrier Reef was withdrawn on the morning of the race with a temperature.
It was a first Group One success for Senorita Bonita, delivered in what Crisford called a deep renewal of the race, and it sets up a rematch next month with Gr.2 Lowther Stakes winner Libertango and York scorer Sun Goddess in the Gr.1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket, the contest Crisford has already settled on as her next target. The win also stood as her sire Starspangledbanner's 12th individual Group One winner.
Sun Goddess And Libertango Await
Newmarket in late September will supply the clearer answer, but Deauville already sketched the outline of the question. Senorita Bonita's only defeat in four starts came when second in the Gr.2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, sandwiched between a debut win at Nottingham and victory in the Gr.2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, before the step up to Group One company. Murphy, partnering the filly for the first time in a Group One, drew his own comparison. "She has a very good turn of foot - to compare her to other good fillies I've ridden in Porta Fortuna and Alcohol Free, she's certainly towards their level," he said. Both those fillies stayed six furlongs and no further at two, and whether Senorita Bonita's pedigree carries her beyond that trip is the question Crisford's own words left open. Physically, he said, she "doesn't look like a stayer," but she is out of a mare by Ruler Of The World, and "it's a staying family," Crisford said. That mare, the unraced Belicious, is out of Amazing Krisken, a daughter of the Group Two winner Magic Gleam, whose family also produced the US Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Davona Dale.
Crisford confirmed she will be tried over a mile next season, a plan stated with enough certainty to stand as settled, even if the evidence for it will not arrive until 2027.
The depth of the opposition complicates a clean read of the form too. Kosuma, unbeaten in three starts before Deauville, took time to overcome a true pace and finished strongest of the principals behind the first two. Trained by André and Lavinia Fabre for owner-breeders Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, the filly is by Night Of Thunder out of Any Time Soon, and her racing manager, Pierre-Yves Bureau, said the run raised the possibility of a step up in trip but confirmed no target had been set, with the filly needing to recover from her fourth start of the season before any decision was made. O'Brien reported that Ryan Moore, aboard fourth-placed Man's Best Friend, wanted seven furlongs next time out, while pacemaker Carry The Flag would revert to five, detail that leaves the Ballydoyle team's true form only partly resolved. Great Barrier Reef, withdrawn that morning, was absent from the finish altogether.
Bahrain's Growing Group One Record
For Victorious Forever, the Bahrain operation racing Senorita Bonita, the victory extended a rapid rise on the European stage. Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa formed the operation in 2025 by merging their existing racing interests, and it now runs more than 60 horses with results at Royal Ascot and in the Gr.1 St Leger already to its name. Senorita Bonita herself had been bought as a breeze-up 2YO for US$1.3 million (900,000gns) at Tattersalls' Craven sale in April 2026, bred by Hawes Stud and Churchtown House Stud and sold through the Craven ring on behalf of Anne and Michael Gaffney, a price Crisford said reflected what she had already shown of her ability and temperament before ever reaching a racecourse. It was also a second Prix Morny for the Crisford training operation, following Vandeek's win in the race in 2023.
Murphy tied the result to a wider pattern of success for the operation this season. "I've had three Group 1 winners this year for Victorious Forever so thanks to Sheikh Khalid and Sheikh Nasser," he said.
No quote from O'Brien addressed Carry The Flag specifically, only the round of comments on his other runners in the race, a gap in the record for a colt that set the pace and held on for second. Crisford, for his part, already has autumn plans settled. "All roads lead to the Cheveley Park now, and that was a fantastic performance," he said. "Any Group One is fantastic to win, and we are all just delighted. It's a great testament to the staff back home and everyone involved."
The Cheveley Park will supply the next test, but Deauville has already done its job. Senorita Bonita leaves France a Group One winner with a proven turn of foot, an unresolved stamina question, and a home operation whose position among Europe's leading Bahrain-owned yards looks more secure with every passing month.
1.Senorita Bonita (IRE)(T:Simon & Ed Crisford/ J:Oisin Murphy) ; 2. Carry The Flag (IRE) (T:Aidan O'Brien/ J:Ronan Whelan); 3. Kosuma (FR)(T:Night Of Thunder André & Lavinia Fabre/ J: Maxime Guyon)