Francis Graffard | Horse Racing Free Tips

Last year's G1 Queen Elizabeth S. winner The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was third on seasonal debut in the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc on Apr. 3, will stay in France for Saturday's G2 Prix du Muguet rather than crossing the English Channel for the G1 Lockinge S. on May 15 on account of the complications of travel during the pandemic.

“Everything is fine with the horse, it is just at the moment the ground is pretty dry everywhere, and it is so complicated to travel for the staff and the jockey,” said trainer Francis Graffard. “We have everything against us, so I think we will just stay at home and run on Saturday in the Prix du Muguet.

“He will have an entry in the [G1] Queen Anne [S. at Royal Ascot], but it will depend on things. We know he is very competitive in the autumn. We could save him until then, but on the other hand he is a gelding with very few miles on the clock, so he can run again.”

Graffard also provided an update on last year's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe runner-up In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}), who was second in the Apr. 18 Listed Prix Lord Seymour on return.

“I was pleased with that run, because he's a big horse and he needed the run,” said Graffard of the 4-year-old. “He'll come on for that and he's going to run in a Group 3 at Deauville in a few weeks. He's entered in the [G1] Coronation Cup [on June 4], so we'll see how he is before that. Hopefully [the G1 Grand Prix de] Saint-Cloud can be a target for him this summer [July 4]. He doesn't need soft ground; he can go on any ground.”

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In Moment of 2020, the staff of TDN Europe reflect on their favourite moments in racing for the year.

In 2019, both Gestut Schlenderhan and the Deutsches Derby celebrated 150th anniversaries. Schlenderhan, Germany’s oldest Thoroughbred stud farm, has enjoyed much success throughout the world and is the leading owner when it comes to its home Derby. That record was extended this year when In Swoop (Ger) became the 19th winner of the race to be owned and bred by the Von Ullmann family, a result made all the sweeter by the fact that the colt is by Schlenderhan’s 2007 Deutsches Derby winner Adlerflug (Ger), a stallion who remains seriously underrated outside Germany. Furthermore, In Swoop’s Classic credentials were completed by his homebred dam Iota (Ger), who won the G1 Preis der Diana and was one of the early stars for her sire Tiger Hill (Ire). The Danehill stallion moved from Schlenderhan to Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud the year after his first-crop daughter claimed the German Oaks.

While being very much a product of the widely respected German breeding programme, In Swoop is trained in Chantilly by Francis Graffard, and he thus became the first French-trained winner of the historic race. Baron Georg Von Ullmann has long been a supporter of French racing, with some of his major stars in the heyday of the late Schlenderhan stallion Monsun (Ger) including Manduro (Ger), Getaway (Ger) and Shirocco (Ger), all of whom were trained by Andre Fabre.

A compact and striking colt far more reminiscent of his grandsire In The Wings (GB) than his leggier, chestnut father Adlerflug, In Swoop only made his debut in May, winning readily at Lyon-Parilly before returning there to take third in the G2 Prix Greffulhe, his prep for his Classic engagement. His scything run from near last to win the 151st Deutsches Derby on only his third start was clearly the high point of his season, but subsequent runner-up finishes behind Mogul (GB) in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and Sottsass (Fr) in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe entitle him to be considered one of the best of his generation in Europe.

Graffard has already more than proved himself adapt at handling top-class thoroughbreds and he has brought In Swoop along in the gentle manner which allows both the trainer and the team at Gestut Schlenderhan to dream of further international glory in 2021.

The post Moment of 2020: In Swoop appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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