My Highness stays on 1,000 Guineas trail after Deauville return

My Highness did enough at Deauville to keep the 1,000 Guineas conversation alive, and that is the key point for Godolphin and Andre Fabre. Beaten 2½ lengths in the Group 3 Prix Imprudence on soft ground, the 5/4 favourite was not exposed as a pretender so much as a filly blowing away a long absence, with Fabre left “quite happy” by the return from a 226-day layoff.

That matters because this was never just another spring prep. My Highness is the only Andre Fabre horse to hold a Newmarket 1,000 Guineas entry, and the French yard is weighing a genuine Classic decision for Sunday, May 3. With Newmarket’s entries published on March 3, the Deauville run became a live test of whether the daughter of Ghaiyyath and Majestic Queen had enough foundation for a cross-Channel Group 1 assignment. The answer was mixed, but not discouraging.

The race itself told the story. Run over 7 furlongs at Deauville on April 7, the Prix Imprudence drew 12 runners and was won by Showna, a 50/1 outsider, in 1:19.66. My Highness finished second, and although she could not reel in the race-fit winner, she did not fold either. She appeared to tire before finishing again late, which is exactly the kind of pattern connections wanted to see from a filly returning from nearly eight months away rather than already at peak fitness.

There is also a longer-form case for forgiveness. My Highness had been unbeaten in her first four starts, and her juvenile record already included the Group 2 Sumbe Prix du Calvados at Deauville on August 24, 2025, where she won by 1¼ lengths. That profile still reads like a Classic filly. One defeat, even as the market leader, does not erase the underlying class when the run came after a break and against a rival with match fitness on her side.

For bettors, the lesson is sharper than the result line suggests. The Prix Imprudence was less a warning siren than a conditioning report, and the fact that My Highness remains on the Guineas trail keeps her in the frame as a filly with unfinished business. If she steps forward again from Deauville, Fabre’s sole Newmarket entry could yet turn a second-place return into a proper Classic launch.