Dubai Usherette bids to follow in the footsteps of two Godolphin legends and give the stable a third success in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan at Chantilly, France on Sunday.
A five-year-old filly by Shamardal, Usherette faces five rivals headed by Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes scorer Zarak.
Godolphin previously won the Prix d’Ispahan with Best of the Bests in 2002 and Halling in 1996.
Usherette is trained by French great Andre Fabre who is the leading trainer in the Chantilly feature with eight wins since Al Nasr in 1982 and Golden Lilac his most recent, in 2013.
Last season Usherette landed the a pair of Group 2 victories in England — the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket the previous month.
On his only start this year, he finished third to stable companion Jimmy Two Times in the Group 2 Du Muguet at Saint-Cloud,
The inaugural running of the Prix d’Ispahan was the showpiece event of a meeting held at Longchamp in July, 1873. The meeting had been hastily arranged to honour the Shah of Persia, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who was making an official visit to Paris. The race was named after Ispahan, the French name for Isfahan, a former capital city of Persia.
