Fairy Glen foils Sunly in Prix de Royallieu
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 3 Oct 2026
Fairy Glen came from last to first in the Qatar Prix de Royallieu to floor odds-on favourite Sunly and land a Group One prize for Newmarket training duo Simon and Ed Crisford.
Anchored in last place by Mickael Barzalona as Consent, Cameo, Sugar Island and Amelia Earhart cut out a decent pace in the one-mile-six-furlong contest, the five-year-old delivered a withering challenge up the straight.
Sunly, who was backed into favouritism at 5-6, had taken up the running a furlong from home, but with a target to aim at Barzalona and Fairy Glen came late and wide to grab top spot by a neck.
St Leger third Amelia Earhart battled on well to hold third place, another three-quarters of a length back.
Fairy Glen, who is set to be retired at the end of the season, won the Group Two Balanchine and Dubai Gold Cup in Meydan in the spring and finished fifth in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier behind Caballo De Mar here in May.
She had warmed up for this with a second in a Listed contest at Yarmouth last month and Ed Crisford said: “Exactly what Mickael said would happen did happen – he said they’d get racing a long way out.
“He knows her really well from Dubai and just wanted to take his time on her. They did get racing a long way out, he was following Sunly through and she’s a game filly. She’s never going to win by two or three lengths, but she gets the job done.
“She probably should have won at Yarmouth a couple of weeks ago. It was her first run after a summer break and we didn’t want to give her a hard race because this was the aim.
“She’s a really good filly and she’s won a Group One. She will be retired at the end of this year, whether there’s another race for her… she is in at Ascot (on Champions Day) and there might be something back here.
“We’ll talk to her owner, but we might be able to fit another race in before she goes to stud.”
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