Equinties - la revue

Gm Equinauts

Longchamp did nothing but deliver this weekend.

A sensational advert for horse racing, the stories created will be talked about for years to come, especially down under, all whilst the Japanese continue to hunt for that illusive prize.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

VIVE LE GRAFFARD

We speak a lot about ‘master trainers’ in our sport, and a lot of them are pretty obvious. Aidan O’Brien, Willie Mullins, Shaggas, to name a few. However, we probably don’t speak enough about Francis-Henri Graffard.

He isn’t one of these trainers who has been around since the black and white ages, but he is a testament to hard work and some of the education systems we have in horse racing. In 2003, he went on the Godolphin Flying Start, an industry-leading, internationally recognised, two-year programme that allowed him to work for Andre Fabre, Gai Waterhouse, and Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum. All of this tutoring continued to build until he took out his training license in 2011.

Since then, he has two Dianes, two French 1000 Guineas, two King Georges, one Grand Prix de Paris, one Coronation Stakes, one QEII, and countless over Group 1s across France, Germany, and even Canada.

And after this weekend, he now has a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to add to the trophy cabinet.

DARYZ was the horse to give him this special moment, and a quick look at his season makes for good reading. He’s had seven races since April, and the longest break he’s had was 52 days between the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam and the Group 1 Juddmonte International.

He didn’t race at two and the patience has paid off making him an extremely important horse for the Age Khan. They now have a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning three-year-old colt by SEA THE STARS, and he is out of the Group 1-placed DARYAKANA. One imagines he’ll have stallion duties after his racing career is over, and he is a pretty sound horse who is ground versatile. Those are nice traits to have in a stallion.

As for the race itself, it lived up to the billing. There weren’t many, if any, hard luck stories in behind, and plenty of horses had their fair chance to win. At the 400m mark, KALPANA, AVENTURE, and WHITE BIRCH were there down the outside, CROIX DU NORD and BYZANTINE DREAM were prominent, and MINNIE HAUK was bang there.

It looked for a while that MINNIE HAUK had sewn up the race, and on another day, she might have won – they did pull five-and-a-half lengths clear of the second, SOSIE.
But DARYZ kept on her hind quarters and struck when the time was right. The front two showed a lot of heart, and MINNIE HAUK lost nothing in defeat.

Much like DARYZ for the Aga Khan, MINNIE HAUK has now turned herself into a really exciting future broodmare. Four Oaks successes and an Arc second is a lovely CV, and the Breeders’ Cup is still an option for her, depending on how she comes out of the race.

Christophe Soumillion said that MINNUE HAUK was at home on the soft ground, and she travelled so well through the race because of this. Yes, she has won a Yorkshire Oaks on good to firm, but this is her second soft ground win, and her Epsom Oaks success was on good to soft. It’ll be interesting to see how she will handle potentially rattling quick Breeders’ Cup ground if they go, especially on her sixth race of the year.

Just a quick note on MINNIE HAUK’s breeding, DANSILI is the dam sire. He is the broodmare sire of BLUESTOCKING, who won the big one last year, and MINNIE HAUK obviously went so close this year. His daughters have produced Gr1 winners OMBUDSMAN and QIRAT, as well as Prix Dollar winner FIRST LOOK. On top of that, he is the broodmare sire of DIAMOND NECKLACE.

When one of these season-defining races happens, it’s hard to talk about ‘where next’, because this is the race that everyone wants to win. We all know MINNIE HAUK could go to America, but currently, it’s unclear whether DARYZ will stay in training next year.

To finish up this Arc chat, we want to circle back to just how far clear MINNIE HAUK and DARYZ pulled away from the field. Ballydoyle were confident, super confident in fact, that MINNIE HAUK couldn’t get beaten in the Arc yesterday.

They were a head away from that expectation becoming a reality. It’s a classic line, but take DARYZ out of that race, and we would be talking about MINNIE HAUK as one of the most impressive Arc-winning fillies of all time. If both stay in training next season, that would be very cool, and they will attract more eyes to them. Let’s hope this happens.

THAT UBER DRIVER

Away from the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, there was plenty to analyse from Paris Longchamp this weekend.

Let’s start with the sadly missed WOOTTON BASSETT. He may not be around anymore, but his stamp on the sport will stick around for a long time. Just this weekend, PUERTO RICO won the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, MARANOA CHARLIE won the Group 1 Prix de la Foret, and WODETON placed in the Group 1 Golden Rose in Australia.

PUERTO RICO has improved very nicely this season, and that was a fair effort yesterday. He wasn’t a huge hype horse this season, but he has just steadily batted through the season, and he looks quite exciting.

He should be off to America now, as O’Brien said: "I was probably running him over a little bit too short because he was showing us loads of speed. He ran over six furlongs up until Doncaster. That was his first run over seven and he won. The horse that was third to him that day [Cape Orator] won yesterday, so the form got very strong overnight.

"Christophe gave him a beautiful ride. He’s a lovely, big, powerful, mature horse with loads of speed.”

Elsewhere yesterday, Henry Dwyer has Mamadou, the Uber driver, to thank for ASFOORA’s victory in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye. When connections of the Aussie sprinter arrived at Longchamp on Sunday, they were promptly told that her passport and ID card had not come with her from Chantilly.

Apparently, the Aussies brought the passport of a horse they bought from the sales the night before, rather than her passport. The stuff of nightmares.

The Longchamp vets needed to see it before they could let her race, so Dwyer tipped the Uber driver €200 in cash to get to Longchamp quickly. He arrived just in time, and the Nunthorpe winner lit up the track to become the first Australian mare to win the Abbaye.

She is a top, top class mare, and fair play to Dwyer for this season. She wasn’t showing the right signs at home in the first part of the year, so rather than rushing her, he was patient, waited for the right time, and then targeted her at the correct races.

No decision has been made on her future, but in an interview on Sky Sports, one of her part-owners thinks she may need a break. She could be around next year.

Two more horses deserve a mention from France this weekend. We’ll start with TENNESSEE STUD, who just saw out his stablemate, EMIT, in the Group 2 Prix Chaudenay. Joseph O’Brien is targeting the Melbourne Cup this year with AL RIFFA, and this three-year-old could be their next horse for Australia.

Kevin Blake, O’Brien’s race planner, said: "He's just a very good horse. He always has been. The Prix Niel wasn't really his thing last time and we felt he was ready to step up in trip. He's lovely and relaxed, especially for a colt. He always gave the impression that he had the temperament and the pedigree to become a stayer.

"He could be a Melbourne Cup horse. I was impressed with him today. I know he didn't win by far, but Dylan felt he was getting quite lonely in the final furlong, which is just the way the race panned out. Emit ran a smashing race, too. It was great to see him run so well – it's a fantastic result."

And could Sir Mark Prescott have a horse for the Arc next year? That’s because CONSENT won the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu, and even though Prescott thinks she might be more of a stayer than a 1m4f filly, they are likely to target the same race that ALPINISTA won in 2022.

Prescott said: "They will definitely keep her in training. I expect somebody might want to make her come back to a mile and a half at some stage, but a mile and six is probably her best trip, I would think. But the temptation is to come back.
"It would be nice to think so. I think she’s a bit more stamina-oriented, but I’m sure that’s what everybody will want to aim at."

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

DASH OF AZURE – SATURDAY 13.15 ASCOT

For a horse rated just 89, DASH OF AZURE put in a big eye-catching effort in the Listed October Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. She came from a mile back to be beaten by a short head. The winner, CAJOLE, is not a bad animal as well. Connections will probably be seeking a bit of Group black type, so that might just mean she stays in training as a four-year-old. She is good enough to at least win a Listed race in the future, but a Group contest is not out of reach, especially in slow ground.

RISING EMPIRE – SATURDAY 14.05 NEWMARKET

They were strung out like washing in the Auction Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday, but a few nice types came to the fore. The Coles really fancied JEL PEPPER, and he delivered, so the performance of a few in behind, like RISING EMPIRE, can be upgraded.
The BANGKOK juvenile was sent off a big price, but he has some decent form with MAXIMISED and COPPULL from earlier in the season. He made a pretty bold solo effort down the centre of the track, and he wasn’t stopping at the line. That was his first start at seven furlongs, and he will probably stay further next season. He could be one for handicaps.

ARROW EAGLE - SUNDAY 15.05 LONGCHAMP

Ridden cold out the back for the whole race, with a more prominent ride the son of GLENEAGLES would have gone a lot closer. One to track in the soft ground next year.

RISK ON

We have our eye on one today but it’s an incredibly deep race pedigree wise so we’re going to try and find out more about the other runners before getting risk on.

If we pull the trigger we will post it to our X account @equinties

ENJOYED THE WINNERS THIS WEEKEND? PLEASE SUPPORT THE NEWSLETTER BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR JUMPS SEASON OFF AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE PREMIUM EDITION BELOW:

Become a paying subscriber to get access to all of our pedigree analysis, big race previews inc. bumper previews, standout stats and best bets over the coming NH season!

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.