Lady Bamford’s Star of Seville (Duke of Marmalade) took Chantilly by storm Sunday
just nine days after her Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1) ninth-placing to provide John Gosden and Frankie Dettori with another European
classic in the Prix de Diane (Fr-G1).
“It is a
dream come true to win this race, as I have been raving about it for years,” Gosden said. “It
is a great day with a great atmosphere. This filly is very good and was actually lucky
to be knocked over in the Oaks, because it meant she had no race at all and so could come
here so soon after.”
Sent off at 17-1 on Sunday despite the merit of her prior success in the May
13 Musidora S. (Eng-G3) at York, the imposing bay was pitched forward in the
French Oaks by Dettori with her wide draw offering no other plan. She cruised on
the tail of the Wertheimers’ pacemaker Clarmina (Cape Cross) and, when given the
green light, struck the front with a quarter-mile remaining.
Unleashing the same acceleration that had won her the Musidora, Star of
Seville was soon out of danger and tenaciously ground out a one-length triumph over Physiocrate (Doctor Dino),
who was allowed to keep second after an objection by fifth-placed finisher
Sainte Amarante (Le Havre). The 17-10 favorite Queen’s Jewel (Pivotal) was never
able to get cover from her widest posting and finished a disappointing 11th.
“I am very proud of her and she had done what I
expected, but to tell the truth I am personally disappointed as I thought she could win the
race,” Physiocrate’s owner, breeder and trainer
Henri Devin said of the runner-up. “My filly had no excuses though and was beaten by a better filly on the day. It is
too early to make a program for her, but there are various options.”
Like her now-famous stablemate Golden Horn (Cape Cross), Star of Seville made her debut at one of England’s more low-key
tracks and showed promise when third in a seven-furlong Leicester maiden, one place behind
subsequent Fred Darling S. (Eng-G3) winner Redstart (Cockney Rebel), in early
October. Relishing another furlong when getting off the mark by six lengths at Doncaster later
that month, the bay miss returned to advertise her classic claims when displaying a powerful
galloping style to win the same 10-furlong conditions race that 2007 Epsom Oaks
(Eng-G1) heroine
Light Shift (Kingmambo) had at Newbury on April 17.
Tackling Ballydoyle’s Fillies’ Mile
(Eng-G1) winner Together Forever (Galileo) in what amounted to a match race in the Musidora,
Star of Seville looked to have the race sewn up when surging clear passing the quarter-pole only to allow that rival to get within a head at the line.
Any confidence in her prospects
in the Epsom Oaks seemed to dissipate when Dettori opted to ride her stablemate
Jazzi Top (Danehill Dancer) and, with doubts surrounding her stamina for
the 12-furlongs of that test, the homebred lass was allowed to start at 12-1.
Sent on in the lead by William Buick in that contest, she was already starting
to tire inside the last two furlongs when the unbalanced Together Forever caused
her to be knocked off stride, and she was quickly eased out of contention.
Star of Seville will now enjoy
a rest after a busy spring and early summer, Gosden revealed.
“She doesn’t stay a mile and a half, so
we’ll put her away now and freshen her up before bringing her back to France for
Longchamp’s (October 4) Prix de l’Opera (Fr-G1),” he said.
One race later at Chantilly, Erupt (Dubawi) took to Paris for a neck win in
the Prix du Lys Longines (Fr-G3) and booked a ticket to Longchamp’s July 14
Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1).
With two wins under his belt at Lyon-Parilly, most
recently in the May 7 listed Coupe des Trois Ans, Erupt was positioned
close to the early lead in second under jockey Stephane Pasquier. The Niarchos
Family homebred took over approaching the quarter-pole and dug
in to hold off Sarrasin (Monsun) in determined fashion.
“I thought the ground might be too firm
for him, but this just proves what horses can do when they are in good condition,”
trainer Francis-Henri Graffard said. “He has been a late-maturing type and slow to
come to hand, but if he is well he will go for the Grand Prix de Paris.”
Fintry (Shamardal) closed out the group action at Chantilly on the day when
capturing the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord (Fr-G3) by a half-length.
Underlying the strength of the distaffers in Europe,
the race was dominated by fillies and Fintry emerged marginally the best over
last year’s Poule des des Pouliches (Fr-G1) and Prix de Diane (Fr-G1) heroine Avenir Certain
(Le Havre) in a
tactical affair. Positioned straight on the lead by Mickael Barzalona, she was allowed to set
her own tempo as Avenir Certain pulled hard under restraint in last. Winding up passing the quarter-pole, she had established a decisive advantage by the time that
favorite emerged under Gregory Benoist and held on to score by a diminishing margin.
“She’s a lovely filly and you can’t
fault her,” trainer Andre Fabre said. “She has a lot
of heart and loves that good ground. She is in the (July 10) Falmouth S. ([Eng-G1] at Newmarket) and we might take her there.”
Avenir Certain’s trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget, was content with the performance of
his pupil after her disappointing comeback effort when seventh in the May 1 Prix du Muguet
(Fr-G2) at Saint-Cloud.
“She looks like she is on the right track again,” he
stated. “I asked the jockey to ride her like that and I really like the way she
quickened. She is not finished at all and her next race will probably be the
(August 2) Prix Rothschild ([Fr-G2] at
Deauville).”
Second to subsequent Pouliches runner-up Veda (Dansili) in
a conditions event over Sunday’s eight-furlong trip at Longchamp last April,
Fintry went on to enhance
her reputation by taking the listed Prix Volterra and Prix de Sandringham
(Fr-G2) over this
track and trip in May and June. Cast onto the shelf with a virus after that effort, Godolphin’s
homebred filly defied a seven-pound penalty to continue her winning sequence in
Sandown’s Atalanta S.
(Eng-G3) last August before finishing third in the Sun Chariot S. (Eng-G1) at Newmarket in October.
She ran fifth in her seasonal bow in the latter venue’s Dahlia S. (Eng-G3) going nine furlongs
on May 3.
Ireland
Words (Dansili) had only been seen once before Sunday’s Munster Oaks (Ire-G3)
at Cork, and that came when beating subsequent Debutante S. (Ire-G2) winner Raydara (Rock of Gibraltar) and eventual Epsom Oaks
(Eng-G1) heroine Qualify (Fastnet Rock) in a hot
seven-furlong Curragh maiden last June.
The bay miss indicated a bid to emulate the 2008 Irish Oaks
(Ire-G1) success of her dam, Moonstone (Dalakhani), is in the cards with a game comeback win
in the 12-furlong Munster while sporting a hood for the first time. Held up last of
the quartet early by Seamie Heffernan, the bay swooped on Carla Bianca (Dansili) with a furlong remaining and was not asked too hard a question to
keep that rival at bay on the run to the line.
“I rode her patiently and it was a
likeable performance,” Heffernan told Irish-racing.com. “I was confident she was always going to win
from two down. We’ve always liked her but she was a bit delicate. She’s just coming now
and hopefully she will keep coming. It’s good, quick ground and she didn’t mind
it.”
Germany
Shimrano (Monsun) was made the hot favorite in Sunday’s Oppenheim Union-Rennen
(Ger-G2) at Cologne on the strength of his authoritative win in the listed Grosser Preis der Hannoverschen Volksbank-Derby Trial last
out on May 25.
The sophomore justified that support with a three-quarter length victory, and
took the next step toward a rematch with his
prior Munich conqueror Quasillo (Sea the Stars) in the July 5 Deutsches Derby
(Ger-G1) at
Hamburg. Keen early racing behind the early leaders on the outside, the Paul
Harley-trained dark bay took
over with 2 1/2 furlongs remaining and had enough in reserve to gamely repel Areo
(Medicean) in
the drive to the line.
“Each time he was challenged in the straight, he always responded
well and fought back but the going was already too quick for him and he would be better
off with a little more give in the ground,” jockey Adrie de Vries said. “After Wohler’s
two charges (the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen [Ger-G2] winner Karpino [Cape Cross] and Quasillo), he is the next in line for the German Derby in my opinion.”
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