BATEEL was sent to France with the hope that cut in the ground would prevail more than in England. Last Sunday, the daughter of Dubawi ran on well on good going to take the Group 2 Haras Firmamento Prix de Pomone in the hands of Pierre-Charles Boudot at Deauville.

After Olivier Peslier employed waiting in front tactics on Traffic Jam, Bateel took command one furlong out to win, with a certain authority, by a neck. Ryan Moore was on the favourite Abingdon. She flattered a little in the straight but was one-paced at the end of the 12 and a half-furlong trip and finished third.

Bateel was sent to Francis Graffard at the beginning of the year and the change has met with success. She travelled to Haydock Park in June and won the Group 3 Betway Pinnacle Stakes on soft ground and now she has gone one better on a firmer surface.

Graffard was pleased. “Taking into account why she was sent to me, I’ve always had a doubt to run on good ground. But she needed an outing having not raced since June. She is versatile and can stay 15 furlongs but is competitive over 12 so the Prix Vermeille must now be on the cards and the Royal-Oak later in the season when the ground is softer.”

Nicolas Clement trains both Traffic Jam and fourth-placed The Juliet Rose. He said: “Both fillies would have preferred more cut in the ground. Olivier Peslier gave Trafic Jam an astute ride and she could run in the Grand Prix de Deauville. The Juliet Rose has taken a little time to come to hand and her objective now is the Prix Vermeille.”

BATTLE ROYAL

Olivier Peslier’s front-running tactics paid off in the Haras de la Pomme Prix de Reux as Tiberian survived by just a short-head after a battle royal with Doha Dream who was slowly away at the start of the Group 3 contest. Tamelly, Berdibek and the warm favourite, Parabellum were farther back.

Tiberian had been supplemented into the Reux by Alain Couetil so there was a net profit of €36,500 for his owners. The five-year-old had previously finished a remote seventh in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and Couetil explained: “Today, he was calm but became worked up in the Grand Prix by the horse joining him in the lead (Robin Of Navan). He was given a lovely ride today and will run in the Grand Prix de Deauville or an Arc tiral before being shipped to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.”

Doha Dream has a lot of options, including the Grand Prix at Deauville, the Prix Foy, the Preis von Europa or the Canadian International.