Al Husn upset Blue Rose Cen and Nashwa to lift the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Christopher Head’s Blue Rose Cen was the 10-11 favourite to add to her Classic wins on home soil in the French 1000 Guineas and French Oaks, with last year’s Nassau heroine Nashwa rated her main threat.

Above The Curve, trained by Joseph O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, made much of the running and it was from the cut-away in the home straight that drama began to unfold.

French jockey Aurelien Lemaitre, riding at Goodwood for the first time, went for a gap on the far rail aboard Blue Rose Cen, but it was firmly and swiftly slammed in his face by Moore, leaving the market leader all dressed up with nowhere to go in behind.

Upset in the 𝐐𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 @Goodwood_Races

Al Husn (9-1) puts the perceived big-hitters, the unlucky Blue Rose Cen and Nashwa, to the sword in a messy renewal of the Group One @Goodwood_Races @JimCrowley1978 | @varianstable pic.twitter.com/LTPyhT5anB

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 3, 2023

Hollie Doyle, meanwhile, kept out of trouble aboard Nashwa and she looked likely to follow up her latest Group One triumph in last month’s Falmouth Stakes after quickening up smartly to move to the heels of the leaders.

But her effort flattened in the final furlong, and she was unable to get by the front-running Above The Curve, with Roger Varian’s Al Husn, who beat Nashwa in a Group Three at Newcastle on her most recent outing, also in there pitching.

Ridden by Jim Crowley, Al Husn knuckled down to beat Above The Curve by half a length, with Nashwa the same distance further back in third and Blue Rose Cen close behind her in fourth.

The victory was the latest in a rollercoaster few days for Crowley, after receiving a 20-day suspension and £10,000 following his winning ride aboard Hukum in the same colours in last weekend’s King George at Ascot.