Blue Bolt Hopes to Maintain Perfect Season in Matron

Juddmonte's Blue Bolt (IRE) goes head to head with Coolmore's Precise (IRE) for the third time when they line up in the Matron Stakes (G1) Sept. 12 at Leopardstown Racecourse. The score is 2-0 for Blue Bolt, yet this feels like a race that will settle an argument in the mile fillies' division. It is a fascinating intergenerational affair. The 4-year-old Blue Bolt defends an unbeaten seasonal record. So too does the admirable City of Memphis (IRE). Classic winners Precise and True Love (IRE) bid to add to early season glories. The 5-year-old Fallen Angel (GB) attempts to repeat last year's triumph. Blue Bolt and Precise met for the first time in the Falmouth Stakes (G1) at Newmarket Racecourse. Precise settled an in-house argument when beating True Love in the Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) and endorsed her reputation by capturing the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. Blue Bolt was on a hat trick after wins in a listed race at Goodwood Racecourse and in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot. Blue Bolt took the lead 2 furlongs down and swept clear in the final furlong to win by 2 lengths. Precise looked ready to go beyond a mile. However, she was sent to take on Blue Bolt again in the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville Racecourse. The outcome was the same, but only half a length separated them. Blue Bolt's rider Colin Keane, who turns 32 Saturday, said: "Blue Bolt was a filly I loved last year and she ran a massive race at the back end against Fallen Angel when second to her in the Sun Chariot. "When she won the Duke of Cambridge at Royal Ascot this year, I knew she'd get her group 1. She's a really lovely filly." Precise has been back to France for the Prix Rothschild, substituting for the sidelined Gstaad (GB) to finish a game third when taking on the colts in the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1). True Love's course has not run smoothly since winning the One Thousand Guineas (G1). Last year's Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) winner suffered her latest defeat when dropped in trip in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1). "They're both talented and consistent fillies who have been running well all season," Aidan O'Brien said of his fillies. "Precise has had a good season and she ran another big race last time in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. She's been holding her form together nicely and seems to be very well in herself. "We tried something different with True Love last time and brought her back sprinting at Deauville. She wasn't beaten far, but she might appreciate going back up in trip." There is another key piece in the jigsaw, Fallen Angel, who completed a group 1 hat trick when beating Blue Bolt in the Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) at Newmarket last October. A tame run at York Racecourse in the spring and a below-par display at Haydock Park last month seem inauspicious. She could prosper in an autumn campaign, although history is against her in a race that has never had a dual winner. As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, the Matron awards the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) Oct. 31 at Keeneland.