WHEN Audubon Park won the Listed Prix Rose de Mai at Saint-Cloud on March 6th, to give trainer Francis-Henri Graffard his first stakes win of 2025, could the Frenchman have ever imagined that he would have the season that has transpired?

I am sure that he had hopes of a rewarding year, given the support he has from so many of racing’s leading owners and breeders, but last weekend’s Group 1 double took Graffard’s tally of successes at this level in 2025 to nine, with eight different horses. He has saddled six Group 2 winners, 14 winners of Group 3 races, and the winners of 13 listed races this season alone. That’s 42 stakes wins in total. Little wonder that he is celebrated as one of racing’s greatest talents.