Placed in three group 1s including the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches prior to Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois's hard-working homebred Sauterne (Fr) (Kingman {GB}–Salicorne, by Aragorn) had her day in the sun under Tony Piccone as she conquered the summit in the ParisLongchamp feature. Always happy using the 3-5 favourite Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) as a target, the belle of the Patrice Cottier stable mastered him 150 metres from the line before asserting for a length success at 11-1, with Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) half a length away in third.
For owner-breeder Jean-Pierre Dubois, a trotting legend in his native France and worldwide, this pinnacle triumph was understandably special. “It is a lot of fun for me to win a group 1 race on the flat,” he said. “It is so difficult to breed a good one. She is a lovely filly who has danced every dance and, except once, she has never run a bad race. She is an iron filly.”
Big Rock is beaten! Sauterne strikes gold in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at @paris_longchamp… pic.twitter.com/t1emWs2kOC
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 3, 2023
Sauterne, who started her career in late November and has been kept on the go since, has raced ten times in the ten subsequent months with conditions wins in December, January and February followed by her first black-type success in this track's seven-furlong Listed Prix du Pont Neuf in April. Getting into the frame behind Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) in the Pouliches, she was held on to as she ran second to TDN Rising Star Kelina (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 Prix de Sandringham at Chantilly in June, doing her best running late on. Seen to better effect under more positive tactics when second again reverting to seven in Deauville's G1 Prix Jean Prat the following month, she was denied in the closing stages when third in that track's G1 Prix Rothschild in August and seemed to have reached a limit.
What she had here was a lead and an ideal one at that, with Big Rock doing the inevitable and setting an honest tempo trying to put his rivals under pressure at a trip that on this livelier ground is on the sharp side. Sauterne was always comfortable in his wake and once Aurelien Lemaitre got serious on the leader two out the writing was already on the wall. Piccone asked the question soon after and the filly gave typically generously to forge ahead and close out with splits of 10.71 and 11.11 to seal the deal.
“She has a lovely temperament and nothing ever bothers her and that is why we could travel her so many times back and forth from our base in Marseille,” Cottier said of the winner, who was offered at the Goffs London Sale but failed to reach her reserve at £1.2million. “Every time, she has responded with guts and determination and she had done well since her last race in Deauville, she had a dream trip in the wake of the favourite and could produce her turn of foot. If all is well again, she will come back in the G1 Prix de la Foret.”
Pedigree Notes
Sauterne's unraced dam Salicorne (Aragorn) is a daughter of the listed-winning and group-placed Soignee (Ger) (Dashing Blade {GB}), which makes her a half to the six-times top-level scorer and Prix de Diane-winning champion Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}). She is in turn responsible for the dual Japanese champion Soul Stirring (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}) and is the second dam of the G1 Yushun Himba heroine Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), who also captured the G1 Oka Sho.
Soignee is also the second dam of Kingman's G3 Jersey S. winner and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up Noble Truth (Fr), while the family also includes the G1 Commonwealth Cup runner-up Flaming Rib (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) and the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern heroine Sunny Queen (Ger) (Camelot {GB}). Salicorne has the 2-year-old colt Sauvignon (Fr) (Inns Of Court {Ire}), who like Sauterne was unsold when offered at Arqana October last year.
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DU MOULIN DE LONGCHAMP-G1, €450,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-3, 3yo/up, 8fT, 1:36.76, g/s.
1–SAUTERNE (FR), 122, f, 3, by Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Salicorne, by Aragorn
2nd Dam: Soignee (Ger), by Dashing Blade (GB)
3rd Dam: Suivez (Fr), by Fioravanti
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€130,000 RNA Ylg '21 ARQAUG; £1,200,000 RNA HRA '23 GOFLON). O/B-Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois (FR); T-Patrice Cottier; J-Tony Piccone. €257,130. Lifetime Record: 11-5-2-3, $550,875. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Big Rock (Fr), 126, c, 3, Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire)–Hardiyna (Ire), by Sea The Stars (Ire). O/B-Yeguada Centurion SLU (FR); T-Christopher Head. €102,870.
3–Facteur Cheval (Ire), 130, g, 4, Ribchester (Ire)–Jawlaat (Ire), by Shamardal. (145,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA; €120,000 Ylg '20 ARDEAY). O-Team Valor International LLC & Gary Barber; B-McCracken Farms (IRE); T-Jerome Reynier. €51,435.
Margins: 1, HF, SHD. Odds: 10.80, 0.60, 3.40.
Also Ran: Erevann (Fr), Belbek (Fr), Topgear (Fr), Kelina (Ire), Fast Raaj (Fr). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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