Darjina, Sabana Perdida to face Natagora in Prix Rothschild

SABANA PERDIDA (Cape Cross [Ire]) and DARJINA (Zamindar) are set to contest

Sunday's Prix Rothschild (Fr-G1) at Deauville, trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre

announced Wednesday. Scuderia Zaro's Windsor Forest S. (Eng-G2) winner Sabana

Perdida and Princess Zahra Aga Khan's Queen Anne S. (Eng-G1) runner-up will form

a strong hand in the mile contest, previously known as the Prix d'Astarte.

"Sabana Perdida and Darjina are both set to run in the Prix Rothschild on

Sunday," de Royer-Dupre said. "Sabana Perdida is very fresh, because she has

only had two starts all season. Darjina is the same as Sabana Perdida because

she also needs better ground. It was disappointing that it rained prior to the

Falmouth S. (Eng-G1), but it is better to wait rather than risk her once again."

Heading the opposition is Stefan Friborg's English One Thousand Guineas

(Eng-G1) heroine NATAGORA (Divine Light) and trainer Pascal Bary issued an

upbeat bulletin on the gray, who is returning from a break having finished third

in the Prix du Jockey-Club (Fr-G1) at Chantilly on June 1.

"She is looking beautiful, goes well on a straight track and also on any type

of ground," Bary told the Racing Post. "Christophe Lemaire will be back

in the saddle."