HEAVY ground proved right up the street of British raider Telecaster at Deauville on Sunday to complete a disappointing month for the home trainers.
The French began the famous August fixture in good style, Watch Me taking the Prix Rothschild, but Francis Graffard’s filly was later found to have suffered a career-ending injury.
Telecaster’s six and a half-length demolition of the field for the €140,000 Group 2 Lucien Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville meant that all of the month’s other Sunday highlights had fallen foul to foreign forays.
Telecaster was not certain to appreciate such a testing surface (though his dam, the 2012 Irish Oaks runner-up, Shirocco Star, was well suited by cut in the ground) and even less sure to relish this step-up to an extended mile and a half.
Confidence
However, Christophe Soumillon always rides with the utmost confidence and he set a solid pace aboard the son of New Approach, who then lengthened away determinedly approaching the furlong pole.
Trainer Hughie Morrison revealed: “Over the past few weeks Telecaster has suddenly learned how to be a racehorse and we’ve finally got him to settle. Last year (because of the timing of the Derby) we were forced to try and make him into a racehorse in just a six-week period, and it didn’t work out well for him.
“But if I’d known how well he would settle at York (when fourth to Aspetar) last time I would have been able to have him ridden differently and Christophe said that he was perfectly behaved again today and was happy to make the running when no one else wanted to.
“He’s entered in the Arc but we might be more inclined to try to find a Group 1 with him in somewhere like Germany. I’ve always thought that a mile and a half would be his trip.”
Look takes prize home
THERE was another comprehensive British victory at the start of the card as Breathtaking Look followed up a string of strong efforts in defeat in top-class company this season with a deserved three-and-a-half-length score in the €56,000 Group 3 Barriere Prix de Meautry over a straight six furlongs.
Stock upgrade
This daughter of Bated Breath is further evidence that her Newmarket trainer, Stuart Williams, is finally managing to upgrade the quality of his string after many years of toil. It was only last April, after 25 years with a licence, that he finally managed to break his pattern race duck and now, thanks to Breathtaking Look, he has trebled his tally. Next, she could bid to repeat her 2019 triumph in the Group 3 Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster on September 9th.
Stunning Spirit’s course
WHILE Breathtaking Look came up the stands’ side, later on the same straight course but over a mile in the €56,000 Group 3 Prix Quincey, Mickael Barzalona decided that the best ground was up the far rail.
His ‘right hand hard down’ manoeuvre leaving the starting stalls was the precursor to a wire-to-wire three-and-a-half-length victory aboard the Frederic Rossi-trained Stunning Spirit.
There is no telling if it was a race-winning move: Stunning Spirit had the form in the book to land a Group 3 and is wonderfully consistent and versatile. This was his 25th top-three finish in 29 career starts and while he looked like a mudlark here, he won a very valuable pot on fast ground in Qatar back in February.
He will next be seen in the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein at ParisLongchamp on October 3rd.PMU finances
A MEETING of the board of directors of France Galop revealed that the PMU, the gambling arm of the French racing industry, is predicted to return €640 million to the sport as a result of betting turnover during 2020.
This figure falls €120 million below what was expected pre the Covid-19 outbreak but is some €180 million more than the figure projected following the sport’s two-month shutdown which resulted in prize money cuts of between 15 and 40% to most French races.
There has been a suggestion that some of this €180 million should be passed on to owners and trainers that have won prize money since racing resumed, but the more likely course of action is increased levels of remuneration for next year’s races.