André Fabre Eyes Guineas Glory With Promising Filly My Highness

André Fabre carries exactly one entry in the Newmarket 1,000 Guineas, and right now the English spring weather is deciding whether he uses it.

In an interview given on March 31, the Chantilly maestro mapped out the decision tree governing the next six weeks for My Highness, Godolphin's three-year-old bay filly by Ghaiyyath: either the Prix Imprudence at Deauville on April 7, a recognised Guineas prep that keeps the cross-Channel option alive, or a domestic pivot via the Prix de la Grotte at Longchamp and then the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. "She is entered in Deauville on 7 April [Prix Imprudence], which was supposed to be a prep race for the Guineas, but I'm still hesitating," Fabre said. "I was hoping that the weather would stay a bit warmer but it has suddenly become cold again."

That hesitation carries weight. My Highness is, by Fabre's own assessment, "still a bit wintery" but "sound and reliable," the kind of filly whose readiness can shift with a cold snap. She arrives at this fork in the road with three wins from four starts, capped by a Group 2 victory at Deauville last August when Cristian Demuro sent her clear of British challenger Fitzella to win the Prix du Calvados by 1¼ lengths. Her dam is the dual Group 3-winning sprinter-miler Majestic Queen, and she is the first Ghaiyyath offspring to win at Group 2 level in Europe, which sharpens the attention around every decision Fabre now makes on her behalf.

The historical template that haunts this conversation most usefully is Miss France in 2014, the last time Fabre won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket. That filly ran the Prix Imprudence as her seasonal return and finished sixth, alarming enough that some bookmakers removed her from Classic markets entirely. Fabre sent her anyway. Maxime Guyon rode her to victory on the Rowley Mile. The lesson embedded in that campaign: Fabre does not abandon a Newmarket target because a prep race reads poorly, and a cold-weather setback rarely ends a conversation he has not yet decided to end.

His record on that course demands that ante-post markets listen carefully when he speaks. Beyond Miss France, Fabre has won the 2,000 Guineas with Zafonic and Pennekamp, the Dewhurst Stakes three times, the Champion Stakes twice, and both the Middle Park and the July Cup. "I'm a great fanatic of Newmarket because I think it's the best course in the world," he said, a declaration that functions less as sentiment and more as a scouting report on where he believes his best horses belong.

The broader stable picture includes returning campaigners Sosie, Sajir, and Cualificar, all in training for their four-year-old seasons. But the Classic question for 2026 sits almost entirely with My Highness. The Prix Imprudence is four days away. Whether she takes her place at Deauville or waits for the Grotte at Longchamp will tell the market which hemisphere of Europe Fabre believes his best filly can win in.