Prix de Rothschild (Group 1)
LAST Sunday’s opening day of the month-long Deauville August Festival brought no luck for the O’Brien family as the afternoon’s two strongly-fancied Irish challengers, January for Aidan O’Brien and Balantina for his son Donnacha, both had to settle for second place having looked all over the winner inside the final furlong of their respective races.
The feature race, the Group 1 Prix de Rothschild for fillies over a straight mile, looked highly competitive beforehand, with many of the 13 runners having logical claims.
The local turfistes were in no doubt about the most likely winner, however, backing the three-year-old January in to 16/10 favouritism as she sought to go one better than in the Falmouth Stakes three weeks earlier.
And Christophe Soumillon, aboard the daughter of Kingman, looked set to reward their confidence when he cruised up to join the front-running Fallen Angel with a furlong and a half to run.
He then took a while to get past last year’s Irish 1000 Guineas heroine and, when Danny Tudhope asked Fallen Angel for one last push, January could not hold off his rallying rival and succumbed by a head.
The first two were chased home by a trio of outsiders, led by two of the home hopes, the four-year-old Start Of Day and the year younger Godspeed, followed by O’Brien’s second string, Exactly, who has been a model of consistency in top-class company this season, but again had to settle for a minor share of prize money in fifth, less than three lengths behind the winner.
There were a number of disappointments. Crimson Advocate, who had beaten Fallen Angel into third when landing the Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot, could manage no better than sixth, the German 2000 Guineas winner, Matilda, was 10th, while Mandanaba and Spiritual filled the last two places.
Three straight seasons
Trained in England by Karl Burke, Fallen Angel has now pulled off Group 1 triumphs in three straight seasons, as she also lifted the Moyglare Stud Stakes as a juvenile. Remarkably, Laurens, Burke’s previous Rothschild winner, was also completing that rare ‘three years at the very top’ feat when she crossed the line in 2019.
The result was particularly sweet for Tudhope, Fallen Angel’s regular partner prior to her sale to Wathnan Racing last summer.
James Doyle, Wathnan’s retained rider, who had chosen to ride her at Ascot, leaving James McDonald to taste glory in the Wathnan second silks on Crimson Advocate, jumped ship here only to get it wrong a second time.
Tudhope said: “This filly means a lot to me, even more so now that we have won a third Group 1 together, and it’s amazing for me to get back on her.
“The ground was probably too fast for her at Ascot and it was quicker than ideal today, but she was still able to show her class.”
Burke was quick to acknowledge that sheepskin cheekpieces, which he had employed for the first time in the Duke Of Cambridge, had helped Fallen Angel return to her best and nominated the Matron Stakes [at the Curragh on September 13th] as her likely next outing.
Granted a bit more cut in the ground, she could be in line for a lucrative autumn campaign.
UP against a pair of highly-rated unbeaten local two-year-old fillies in Green Spirit and Narissa, the Albany Stakes third Balantina had plenty on her plate in the Sky Sports Racing Prix Six Perfections and looked up against it when she was one of the first off the bridle in this seven-furlong Group 3 contest.
But the daughter of Ten Sovereigns responded valiantly to jockey Tom Marquand’s urgings and, able to get first run on her market rivals, seemed to have the prize in safe keeping when still a length clear with 75 yards to run.
Maxime Guyon then conjured a final burst of speed from Green Spirit and the pair flashed past the winning post together.
Verdict
After a couple of minutes’ consideration, the judge gave Green Spirit the verdict by a short-head, meaning that this Christopher Head-trained Kingman filly is now three-from-three and will be a leading candidate for the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc Day, a race she will be prepared for by way of a tilt at the Group 3 Prix d’Aumale.
It was a fine afternoon for Head, who had earlier both unearthed another potential juvenile stakes performer when Waybreaker landed the Prix de Crevecoeur and saddled the 40-1 shot Start Of Day to nab a place in the Rothschild.
Donnacha O’Brien was left to lick his wounds and said: “We were unlucky as Balantina had her head in front both just before and just after the line, but we lost out on the bob. It’s some journey from Ireland, it takes four or five days, so we will get her home and give her time to recover before we make any plans.”
Tadej battles
The other juvenile pattern race on the card, the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg over six furlongs, witnessed a battling performance from Tadej.
Archie Watson’s gallant grey, who had finished third in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin just a fortnight earlier, refused to accept defeat, having been headed and stormed back past Ajfan to score by half a length.
The group racing had kicked off with the Sky Sports Racing Prix de Psyche, a mile and two-furlong Group 3 event for three-year-old fillies, won in ready fashion by its odds-on favourite, the Francis Graffard-trained Cankoura.
A fine third in the Group 1 Prix de Diane on her previous start, Cankoura is set to return to Deauville for the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet on August 24th.