Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (Group 1)

MORE signs of global warming in Paris last Sunday, with temperatures touching 26°C and the going at Longchamp fast enough to see record times tumble.

Whilst the red-hot combination of trainer Francis Graffard and owner-breeder the Aga Khan Studs continued to carry all before them, it was not such a sunny afternoon for Aidan O’Brien, with his top three-year-old colts, Benvenuto Cellini and Gstaad, both suffering significant setbacks.

Gstaad did not perform all that badly in the most valuable race on the card, the Group 1 Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, but the odds-on favourite still broke new ground in two negative ways in that, for the first time in his 11-race career, he was beaten by over three lengths and finished outside of the first two.

This mile contest played out as expected for its first six furlongs, with Opera Ballo racing too keenly in front, pestered by Gstaad’s pacemaker, Dorset.

Tread water

But it was a surprise when, at the quarter mile marker, instead of engaging the turbos, Gstaad began to tread water as Erdenali and Ten Bob Tony swept past on his outside.

Opera Ballo folded, leaving Erdenali to edge clear of Ten Bob Tony and prevail by a length and a quarter, while it was only in the closing stages that Gstaad, who had looked booked for an unplaced finish, stayed on again for third spot.

The ground was probably faster than he prefers, and he may not have been fully fit having taken a while to recover from the leg wound he suffered during the Sussex Stakes.

Yet, to finish three lengths adrift of Ten Bob Tony, who had been over two lengths behind him at Goodwood, must rate as a disappointment.

O’Brien tried to put a brave face on things afterwards, saying: “Gstaad was coming back at them at the line and looks like he might need further, so we are pleased with him.”

Erdenali, a gelded son of Caravaggio who only made his debut at the end of March, was becoming the third different three-year-old male inmate of Graffard’s yard sporting the Aga Khan’s green silks to win a Group 1 in the last four weeks, following on from Samangan and Rayif.

Traffic problems

He would still be undefeated but for having experienced appalling traffic problems when beaten by half a length in the Group 3 Prix Messidor.

Graffard said: “Erdenali is a hard horse to work out at home, as some mornings he goes better than others, but he’s one of those good horses who saves his best for the afternoons.”

Graffard had planned to take him to Keeneland for the Turf Mile to get some practice before the Breeders’ Cup Mile but, with the Moulin trophy now in safe keeping, he will probably wait and send him straight to the Breeders’ Cup.

Ten Bob Tony, meanwhile, proved once again that he is much more than just a soft ground specialist in registering his fourth consecutive top-four finish at the highest level.

His trainer, Ed Walker, will now point the Queen Anne Stakes victor towards the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day. He said: “He’s still growing and maturing and, as a gelding, I’m hoping that he will be with me for some time to come.

“Up until this season we were always very careful with him and now we’re being rewarded with a horse capable of stringing big races together while staying in great shape.”

Qatar Prix Vermeille (Group 1)

BY no means has the season been all smooth sailing for Francis Graffard, and he was hit with a big blow just over a month ago when injury forced the retirement of his unbeaten Sea The Moon filly, Behrayna, who would have been a leading candidate for the day’s other Group 1, the Qatar Prix Vermeille.

This fillies and mares event took place 35 minutes before the Moulin. Graffard, who had already seen his No Nay Never juvenile filly, Amusingly, touched off in the Group 2 Prix d’Aumale in unfortunate circumstances, must have felt that the gods were conspiring against him when Sunly, Behrayna’s substitute as his top Vermeille hope, lost five lengths with a bad stumble as the gates opened.

She was then badly hampered early in the home straight before flying home to grab third, just a length behind the winner.

Taking advantage was Friendly Soul, a five-year-old daughter of Kingman trained by John and Thady Gosden for breeder George Strawbridge. She deserved some luck, having missed over 18 months of competition owing to injury and then put her foot in a hole in the track at Haydock on her comeback in May.

Big lead

Stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time, she was held together in front by James Doyle and, having pinched a big lead on her main rivals rounding the home bend, looked set to be caught by Pink Panthera only to pull out a little extra in the closing stages to score by three-quarters of a length.

Staying on well from the rear to be beaten by three lengths into fifth, Beautify fared best of the three O’Brien runners while Jim Bolger’s Sparan Nua, who was sent off as the 5/2 favourite, could manage no better than eighth, possibly beaten by a combination of the fast ground and the hard race she had just two and a half weeks earlier when narrowly denied in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Explaining his unusual tactics aboard a runner of unproven stamina, Doyle said: “Friendly Soul is naturally quite keen and doesn’t really like being restrained so everyone had a good chat beforehand and we decided not to fight her too much. She showed great courage in the finish.”

Having seen their bold decision to supplement her into this race pay off, connections are undecided about her next target. Tom Goff, representing Strawbridge, said: “This win gets her a free entry into the Arc but we will keep all options open.

“She entered in the Prix de l’Opera [which she won two years ago] and we’ll also consider the Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup.”

APART from the Vermeille, the rest of last Sunday’s card at ParisLongchamp was a much easier watch for Francis Graffard, starting with Erdenali’s Moulin triumph.

Then came the two colts’ Arc trials and he landed them both, each in conjunction with rhe Aga Khans Studs, albeit in very differing styles.

The three-year-old Varandir came from off a rapid pace to defeat Alam by a length and a quarter in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Niel, before the reigning Arc champion Daryz was able to stalk his only serious rival, Bay City Roller, in second before sauntering to a length and three-quarter success in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy, clocking a time that was over five seconds slower than the Niel and another quarter of a second behind Friendly Soul’s time in the Vermeille.

Reacting to the two victories, Nemone Routh, representing the winning owner, said: “Varandir’s performance was not really a surprise as he had taken a big step forward in the Grand Prix de Paris, where he did all the hard work to get into a challenging position before tiring slightly. He could go for the Arc and softer ground there wouldn’t be an issue.”

Mitigating circumstances

“We were counting on Daryz getting back to winning ways as there were plenty of mitigating circumstances to explain his Prince Of Wales’s Stakes defeat: he was wound up in the hours before the race by all of the activity outside his door in the racecourse stables and was later found to have been suffering from a low-level virus.

“Today’s result gives us 100% confidence and will help bring him to peak fitness. Now we just have to cross our fingers for Sunday, October 4th!”

Benvenuto Cellini was way below his best in the Niel, failing to justify long odds-on favouritism and hanging right in the final furlong and a half as he came home in fifth, four and a half lengths behind Varandir.

He will need to bounce back very quickly if he is to give himself a chance of beating Daryz in the Arc.