Francis-Henri Graffard | Horse Racing Free Tips

Olympic Glory’s Watch Me Wins the Rothschild

Alexander Tamagni-Bodmer and Regula Vannod’s Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) had the obvious form claims for Sunday’s G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville and all went to script for last year’s G1 Coronation S. winner as she outbattled Half Light (Ire) (Shamardal) and Know It All (GB) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) for the win. Tracking Godolphin’s Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) throughout the early stages, the 7-10 favourite got the split on the rail to edge ahead approaching the 300-metre marker and stayed on to score by 3/4 of a length from Half Light, who denied Know It All for second by a short head. “It was not easy today and we’ve been lucky the gap opened on the inside so we could save every inch of ground,” a relieved winning rider Pierre-Charles Boudot explained. “If I’d had to come around them, it might have been a very different outcome as she was struggling bit at the end. Maybe she needs further now.”

Watch Me came to the fore with success in the G3 Prix Imprudence over seven furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte last April and may have been unlucky when subsequently sixth in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp the following month. Taken to the G1 Coronation S. in a daring move which demonstrated the regard in which she was held by Francis-Henri Graffard, she justified that bravery by upsetting Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Royal Ascot feature before earning a break. Back with a fourth in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois over this track and trip in August, the chestnut was trying 10 furlongs for the first time when beaten just under a length in third in the G1 Prix de l’Opera back at ParisLongchamp on Arc day.

Finely-tuned for this with a win in the course-and-distance Listed Prix de la Calonne July 12, she may have been fortunate that the rail opened up when it did as Summer Romance tired quickly but there were no excuses in behind and it would be hard to argue that she was not the best on the day. “She deserved this–it’s very hard to win two of these but she proved in the Opera in October that she was not finished,” Graffard commented. “She stays 10 furlongs, which gives her more options and we’ll see how she comes out of this. She can run in the Jacques le Marois, the [G1] Jean Romanet or the Opera. Every time she has been beaten, she has had a sound excuse and it’s a great credit to the team.”

Godolphin’s Lisa-Jane Graffard said of the up-and-coming runner-up, who was stepping up off a win in the G3 Hamburger Stutenmeile, “Half Light produced another fantastic performance and we are thrilled with her. She never runs a bad race and it was excellent work by her trainer to bring her back from Germany and get her fresh and ready for this. We will see how she comes out of today before deciding where we go from here, but everything she has done so far has been brilliant. She is by Shamardal and from the family of Galileo and Sea the Stars, so she has really exciting breeding potential for Godolphin.”

The dam Watchful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is a half-sister to the group and grade 3-placed Rabi (Ire) (Alzao) and the G3 Coventry S.-placed Kawagino (Ire) (Perugino). The third dam Sharaya (Youth) landed the G1 Prix Vermeille and is also the ancestress of the G2 Centaur S. winner Sans Adieu (Jpn) (French Deputy), as well as of the listed scorer and G1 Nunthorpe S. runner-up Hamish McGonagall (GB) (Namid {GB}). Also connected to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Shawanda (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) and the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and Vermeille heroine Shareta (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}), her 2-year-old colt by the same sire named Watch Him (Fr) (Elvstroem {Aus}) was bought by Amanda Skiffington for €100,000 at the Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale. Her yearling colt is again by Elvstroem.

Sunday, Deauville, France
PRIX ROTHSCHILD-G1, €180,000, Deauville, 8-2, 3yo/up, f/m, 8fT, 1:34.05, gd.
1–WATCH ME (FR), 130, f, 4, by Olympic Glory (Ire)
1st Dam: Watchful (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sharakawa (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Sharaya, by Youth
(€30,000 RNA Ylg ’17 ARAUG). O-Alexander Tamagni & Mme Regula Vannod; B-Mme Antoinette Tamagni-Bodmer & Cocheese Bloodstock Anstalt (FR); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Pierre-Charles Boudot. €102,852. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 9-5-0-2, €625,144. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Half Light (Ire), 130, f, 4, Shamardal–Northern Melody (Ire), by Singspiel (Ire). O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Henri-Alex Pantall. €41,148.
3–Know It All (GB), 122, f, 3, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)–Common Knowledge (GB), by Rainbow Quest. O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Qatar Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Johnny Murtagh. €20,574.
Margins: 3/4, SHD, 2. Odds: 0.70, 8.10, 12.00.
Also Ran: Speak of the Devil (Fr), Norma (GB), Summer Romance (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Rothschild Takes Centre Stage On Sunday

Deauville stages the first of its August features on Sunday, with the fillies and mares granted the opportunity to strike at the highest level in the G1 Prix Rothschild. Alexander Tamagni-Bodmer and Regula Vannod’s Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) sets the standard, having won last year’s G1 Coronation S. and finished third in the G1 Prix de l’Opera and she looked primed for another big effort when taking the course-and-distance Listed Prix de la Calonne on July 12. Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is expecting a bold show. “She is in great form and has improved a lot since her seasonal comeback three weeks ago,” he said. “It’s a Group 1 and they are always hard to win, but I could not be happier with her condition.”

Watch Me meets Godolphin’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), who put up a markedly-improved performance when taking Epsom’s G3 Princess Elizabeth S. over an extended mile on July 4. Enjoying the run of the race there, she still managed to beat three classy fillies in Cloak of Spirits (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Rose of Kildare (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and Onassis (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Charlie Appleby is hoping she can build on that confidence boost. “We were very pleased with the performance of Summer Romance at Epsom and she came out of the race well,” he said. “She made the running there, but doesn’t have to go from the front–it wasn’t the plan to make it last time out but nobody else wanted to go on, so we took the bull by the horns. We feel that this is a good opportunity to hopefully step up to Group 1 level.”

Another who is looking to make a jump forward is Qatar Racing Limited’s July 1 G3 Derrinstown Stud Fillies S. scorer Know It All (GB) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), but the manner of her success in that Leopardstown mile contest suggests she can make an impact. Trainer Johnny Murtagh said, “She’s going there in great form, hopefully. Sheikh Fahad picked this race out and I’m glad he did because it’s a fillies’ only Group 1 with six runners. There are obviously some good ones in it.” One of those is Rashit Shaykhutdinov’s G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches runner-up Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who is back over a mile having failed to stay the 10 1/2-furlong trip of the G1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly on July 5. She is probably still underestimated and this could be her chance to make amends for her unlucky defeat in the June 1 Classic here.

In the G3 Darley Prix de Cabourg, which has been won in recent times by Dabirsim (Fr) (Hat Trick {Jpn}), Ervedya (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), the 2-year-olds get a chance to prove worthy of a tilt at the upcoming G1 Prix Morny over the same six-furlong trip. There does not look to be an Earthlight among the domestic contingent this year and, as ever, there is a strong British challenge via the July 18 Listed Rose Bowl S. runner-up Mighty Gurkha (Ire) (Sepoy {Aus}) and the unbeaten Cairn Gorm (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}).

At Dusseldorf, there is Classic action with the 162nd renewal of the 11-furlong G1 Henkel-Preis der Diana seeing a formidable collection of foreign raiders. Francis-Henri Graffard has already taken one of Germany’s Classics after In Swoop (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) caused an upset in the G1 Deutsches Derby and is back again with another import from this country in Tickle Me Green (Ger) (Sea the Moon {Ger}). Third in the G3 Prix de la Grotte at ParisLongchamp on May 11 and ninth in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at Deauville on June 1 when under the care of Andre Fabre, Gestut Gorlsdorf’s homebred made her debut for Graffard a winning one in the Listed Prix Madame Jean Couturie over 10 furlongs at Vichy on July 20.

Gary Barber and Team Valor International’s Silence Please (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) beat her stablemate and subsequent G1 Nassau S. runner-up One Voice (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}) in the 10-furlong Listed Salsabil S. at Navan on June 10 before finishing third behind Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) under a penalty in the July 4 Listed Naas Oaks Trial. That form may be good enough in this context with no stand-out among the German brigade. One of the least exposed of them is Gestut Wittekindshof’s Elle Memory (Ger) (Maxios {GB}), the Peter Schiergen-trained daughter of the prolific Elle Danzig (Ger) (Roi Danzig) who captured this in 1998 when it was a Group 2. The second dam of Saturday’s Listed Chalice S. winner Katara (Fr) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), her Shamardal filly Elle Shadow was second in this in 2010. Although it would make a nice story if Elle Memory is to go one better, she has to progress some way from her narrow defeat of Sister Lulu (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) in the 10 1/2-furlong Listed Preis Dusseldorf on June 21.

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Adlerflug’s In Swoop Pounces For Deutsches Derby Glory

Stall Wasserfreunde’s domestic star Wonderful Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) was eclipsed, but Gestut Schlenderhan’s homebred In Swoop (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) stepped into the spotlight with a battling success in Sunday’s G1 Idee 151st Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, with the Francis-Henri Graffard trainee becoming France’s first winner of Germany’s Blue Riband. Employing patient tactics in rear off the tempo set by habitual frontrunner Kellahen (Ger) (Wiesenpfad {Fr}) for the most part, the 137-10 chance was under stern urging turning for home and kept on relentlessly for continued rousting in the straight to hit the front with just 50 yards remaining en route to a 3/4-of-a-length verdict from Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Grocer Jack (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who was threatened on all sides once setting sail for home inside the final quarter mile, kept on to finish the same margin back in third. The Henk Grewe-trained 2-1 favourite Wonderful Moon came from off the pace to threaten out wide in the straight, but faded late to finish just over three lengths off the winner in sixth.

In Swoop, who went untested as a juvenile, followed up a May 15 debut success tackling 11 furlongs at Lyon-Parilly with a third back over that strip in the June 6 G2 Prix Greffulhe in his only other start last time and franked Gestut Schlenderhan’s policy of spreading its talent further afield after an extensive overhaul of operations. Having emerged from tumultuous times and fresh from its own 150th anniversary in tandem with this contest itself last year, the stud extended its imposing record haul to 19 and, with Graffard at the helm of this project, a landmark win for France.

“He was a horse with little experience going into the race, but had improved quite a lot from the Greffulhe,” explained the Chantilly-based conditioner. “Ronan [Thomas] gave him a beautiful ride and it went exactly as we had planned, which was to avoid all the scrimmaging in the race. I knew he would quicken well from the top of the straight and I’m sure he will improve more. There is nothing for him now until September and the G1 Grand Prix de Paris, so we will bring him back for that.” The winning rider, celebrating a career high of his own, added, “We knew there’d be some pace beforehand so we decided it would be best to give him a chance to find his own rhythm. As expected, it was fast and that’s what he did. I started to get an idea where to go on the final bend and down the middle was the best way home. He can be a little bit lazy at times, but he’s a big baby who only started his season two months’ ago. He’s still learning, he hasn’t finished improving and I think he will get better race by race.”

In Swoop marks the fourth Group 1 and first Deutsches Derby winner for his sire (by In the Wings {GB}). Kin to a 2-year-old filly by Australia (GB), he is the third pattern-race winner produced by G1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) heroine Iota (Ger) (Tiger Hill {Ire}), who is also the dam of In Swoop’s G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern-winning full-brother Ito (Ger) and G3 Ssangyong Counties Cup victress Igraine (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}). Iota is herself kin to G3 Grand Prix Premiere Aufgalopp victor Illo (Ger), G1 Preis von Europa placegetter Ioannina (GB) (Rainbow Quest) and to the dam of last year’s G2 Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft victor Itobo (Ger) (Areion {Ger}). In Swoop’s second dam Iora (Ger) (Konigsstuhl {Ger}) is the sole produce out of Listed Festa-Rennen runner-up Incitation (Be My Guest), who in turn is a daughter of Listed Fruhjahrs Stutenpreis victress Iberica (Ger) (Green Dancer). Descendants of the latter include G2 German 2000 Guineas hero Irian (Ger) (Tertullian) and GSW G1 Preis von Europa runner-up Ibicenco (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}), with this being the dam line of G2 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) heroine Idrissa (Ger) (Tamerlane {GB}).

Sunday, Hamburg, Germany
IDEE 151ST DEUTSCHES DERBY-G1, €650,000, Hamburg, 7-12, 3yo, c/f, 12fT, 2:34.97, g/s.
1–IN SWOOP (IRE), 128, c, 3, by Adlerflug (Ger)
1st Dam: Iota (Ger), by Tiger Hill (Ire)
2nd Dam: Iora (Ger), by Konigsstuhl (Ger)
3rd Dam: Incitation (Ger), by Be My Guest
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Gestut Schlenderhan; B-Stall Ullmann (IRE); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Ronan Thomas. €390,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Fr, 3-2-0-1, €408,450. *Full to Ito (Ger), Hwt. Older Horse-Ger at 11-14f, G1SW-Ger & GSP-Fr, $321,458; and 1/2 to Igraine (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}), GSW-NZ, SW & MGSP-Aus, $218,379; and Iniciar (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}), SP-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Torquator Tasso (Ger), 128, c, 3, Adlerflug (Ger)–Tijuana (Ger), by Toylsome (GB). (€24,000 Ylg ’18 BBAGO). O-Gestut Auenquelle; B-Paul H Vandeberg (GER); T-Marcel Weiss. €130,000.
3–Grocer Jack (Ger), 128, c, 3, Oasis Dream (GB)–Good Donna (Ger), by Doyen (Ire). (€85,000 RNA Ylg ’18 BBAGS). O/B-Dr Christoph Berglar (GER); T-Waldemar Hickst. €78,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 13.70, 22.20, 11.30.
Also Ran: Kaspar (Ger), Notre Ruler (Ger), Wonderful Moon (Ger), Dicaprio (Ger), Adrian (Ger), Only The Brave (Fr), Soul Train (Fr), Prince Oliver (Fr), Anatello (GB), Furioso (Ger), Brian Boru (Ger), Kellahen (Ger), Frohsim (Fr), Near Poet (Ger), Toscano (Fr), Palm Springs (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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