Tag Archive for: Zarigana

Summer break for Zarigana before plans for rest of the year are made

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French 1000 Guineas heroine Zarigana is set for a summer break following her narrow defeat at Royal Ascot.

The Siyouni filly won four of her first five starts for Francis-Henri Graffard in the colours of the late Aga Khan, claiming Classic glory in the stewards’ room following the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches after first past the post Shes Perfect was demoted.

Zarigana was the hot favourite to claim another Group One victory in the Coronation Stakes, but after travelling strongly to the front, she was outfought by Joe Murphy’s surprise winner Cercene and beaten half a length at the line.

Nemone Routh, manager for the Aga Khan Studs in France, said: “On the day we were a bit frustrated because she obviously came there to win her race and then stopped or tied up close home and the winner got back at her.

“She’s come back and she’s quite light and I think she needs a bit of a break. It was the first time she’d travelled, it was very hot and she’s quite a highly-strung filly and I think we’ll see if we can send her back to the stud for a summer break before coming back for the autumn.”

While connections will not rush to make any decisions regarding future targets for Zarigana, Routh wonders whether she could prove effective back over a shorter distance.

“She just does everything so easily and travels so well and quickens up very well, but she doesn’t really like being in front and then battling,” she added.

“It’s a question of delivering her very late and holding on to her, or is it a question that she’s not quite getting home in her races? The sire (Siyouni) was a very fast horse and a five-furlong two-year-old and I always thought he never quite got a mile, so it’s not impossible to think that you might consider dropping her back to seven furlongs. We’ll see.

“She’s had three proper races and it will just do her good to have a break both mentally and physically, relax a bit at stud and get her head down and think about other things.”

Another Aga Khan-owned and Graffard-trained filly to go close at the Royal meeting was Rayevka, who justified the team’s decision to supplement her for Friday’s Commonwealth Cup with an excellent effort to finish a close-up third.

Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard at Royal Ascot
Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)

Routh said: “She ran an absolute cracker and she conversely took her race very well.

“She’s a very solid filly and a real sprinting type. There’s not a huge amount of options for her, but we have got her entered in the Maurice de Gheest and the way she finished out her race we don’t think another half-furlong will be problematic for her.

“We’ve always held her in high regard so we might take a look at that, but the ground would need to be good as she loves good, fast ground.”

The Aga Khan’s improving stayer Candelari was considered a leading Gold Cup contender, but he was ultimately disappointing in finishing sixth and Routh added: “I think it was just a big ask for him. He didn’t have as much experience as the other horses in the race, everything had happened so quickly for him this year and racing in France is not the same as those races, particularly the Gold Cup which is such a test.

“The winner (Trawlerman) is such a seasoned horse and went such a pace I think it just found him out. Mickael (Barzalona) said he was actually travelling well, but when they quickened up seven furlongs from home the horse was a bit lost.

“He’s going to have a break now. If we have an Indian summer we could consider races like the Prix du Cadran in the autumn, but I think in the back of our heads we’re all thinking he’s a horse for the Dubai Gold Cup next year.”

Graffard taking the positives as Zarigana suffers Coronation reverse

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Francis-Henri Graffard was left frustrated but determined to take the positives after Zarigana was outfought in a Coronation Stakes thriller at Royal Ascot.

A granddaughter of the Aga Khan super mare Zarkava, Zarigana arrived at the Royal meeting looking to enhance her lofty reputation after winning the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, albeit via the stewards’ room, at ParisLongchamp last month.

However, the 6-4 favourite met a determined rival in Joseph Murphy’s Cercene and despite edging ahead close home, gave back that advantage with a little interest in the dying strides as the raiding French team had to settle for second on this occasion.

“I need to buy a pair of blinkers, probably,” quipped Graffard to questions about Zarigana’s attitude late in the day.

“It was very interesting what the jockey (Mickael Barzalona) said, he said she travelled really nicely, easily on the bridle, but as soon as she hit the front she completely changed in her attitude and threw her head up.

“It’s very frustrating, but we try our best with her. She’s a very talented filly and she didn’t disgrace herself. You always think you can win easily and she has the ability to win easily, but we didn’t get the job done today.”

After suffering only the second defeat of her career, connections were refusing to be too downhearted, with the regally-bred filly one of two for the Graffard-Aga Khan Stud team to hit the crossbar in Friday’s Group One events.

Graffard added: “I am lucky she is owned by a fantastic breeding operation and she has earned her place there. We don’t need to put a pair of blinkers on her – she has earned her place at stud. She has a lot of ability and she will produce fantastic stock that will come here and beat everybody.

“It’s very hard to be competitive here, firstly, and to win here is even harder. You come with very talented horses, but today I think we can’t complain. We have two fillies placed in Group Ones (Zarigana and Rayevka in the Commonwealth Cup) and they earned their places at stud, and so for the operation it is very positive.”

Back in third was Aidan O’Brien’s January, who after twice chasing home 1000 Guineas heroine Desert Flower as a two-year-old was back to her best following a below-par return in the Irish 1,000 Guineas last month.

“She ran OK, it was a little bit messy early, the race, but Ryan said she ran well, so we’re happy and we think she will come forward a little bit.

“Maybe one of the fillies’ races at Newmarket will be next for her, something like that.”

Falakeyah putting mile credentials to the test against Zarigana

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Falakeyah and Zarigana lock horns in a fascinating clash for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on Friday.

The Owen Burrows-trained Falakeyah looked every inch a top-class filly in the making when dominating her rivals in the 10-furlong Pretty Polly at Newmarket, after which the Betfred Oaks at Epsom and the French equivalent were mooted as potential Classic targets.

However, with connections ultimately deciding against stepping up to a mile and a half at Epsom and the Prix de Diane also ruled out, the daughter of New Bay will instead drop back to a mile on the penultimate day of the Royal meeting after being supplemented for the Coronation at a cost of £46,000.

Angus Gold, racing manager for owner-breeders Shadwell, said: “It was a hard decision to supplement, just because of the amount of money involved. I just felt when the entries for the race closed we’d be looking at a mile and a quarter at least for her given she had won over an extended mile on her debut.

“I said to Owen I was just trying to save money and that there was no point even entering her if we thought she was going to be running over further.”

While Gold admits to having doubts about how effective Falakeyah will be dropping back in trip, he is taking some confidence from the feedback of Shadwell’s retained rider Jim Crowley.

“To Jim’s credit, he kept saying every time he sat on her that she had a lot of speed and his first words to me having got off her at Newmarket were ‘she’d have killed them over a mile’. He thought she’d have gone close in the Guineas had she run in that, so I had to take notice,” Gold added.

Jim Crowley on board Falakeyah after winning the Betfred Pretty Polly Stakes
Jim Crowley on board Falakeyah after winning the Betfred Pretty Polly Stakes (Joe Giddens/PA)

“Unfortunately we were going for the Prix de Diane but then she had a hold-up and we ran out of time. They now feel she’s back to her best.

“We could have waited a month for the Falmouth but as she’s well we’ve taken the chance.

“She likes to get on with things so that is probably contributing to the fact she looks like she’s got a lot of speed.

“It’s only her third race so we’re still learning and I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and say she’s definitely a miler, but she has plenty of speed and we felt after discussing it this was worth a try.”

The trip is of no concern to French raider Zarigana, who has won four of her five starts for Francis-Henri Graffard in the colours of the late Aga Khan.

She was most recently awarded the French 1000 Guineas in the stewards’ room after first past the post Shes Perfect was deemed to have caused sufficient interference for the placings to be revised – and while connections are hoping for a bold showing in Berkshire, they are taking nothing for granted.

Nemone Routh, manager for the Aga Khan’s French studs, said: “Zarigana worked well last week, she’s in good form and we’ve been very happy with her since the Pouliches.

“It is a competitive race and it’s the first time she’ll have to travel abroad and she can have moments where she gets quite worked up. It looks like it’s going to be very hot as well, but she’s got to get through all that as part of the test of being a Group One filly.

“She’s very consistent – she’s won four of her starts and was beaten a nose in the other one. This is a big test for her and she’s got to maintain that form and hold it all together in the preliminaries and have luck in running and everything else.

“If there’s any weakness it will be found out, but we’re happy with her preparation and while she goes on anything, she’s probably better on fast ground.”

Further strength in depth is added by Aidan O’Brien’s Exactly, who was little over a length behind Zarigana when fourth in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches last month, while the also-supplemented Kon Tiki puts her unbeaten record on the line for Jane Chapple-Hyam.

Classy line-up assembled for Coronation Stakes

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Falakeyah and Zarigana top 11 contenders for Friday’s Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Owen Burrows-trained Falakeyah was supplemented for the mile Group One following an effortless Listed win in Newmarket’s Pretty Polly Stakes, with connections opting by bypass a possible French Oaks run in favour of dropping back from 10 furlongs here.

Francis-Henri Graffard’s Zarigana was crowned winner of the French 1000 Guineas in the ParisLongchamp stewards’ room following the demotion of Shes Perfect to second and she will clash again with fourth-placed Exactly, who is one of two for Aidan O’Brien along with January.

Ollie Sangster fields both Flight and Simmering, second and third in the 1000 Guineas, with Duty First, Kon Tiki, Cathedral, Cercene and Chantilly Lace completing the field.

The Commonwealth Cup has drawn a bumper field of 22, headed by 2000 Guineas third Shadow Of Light, who will be dropping back to six furlongs for Charlie Appleby.

Babouche, Jonquil, Whistlejacket, Ides Of March and Big Mojo are other leading names in the Group One contest, for which only Seattle was not declared.

The opening Albany Stakes boasts a 17-strong line up, with Karl Burke having made no secret of his regard for ante-post favourite Venetian Sun. Fitzella, Gold Digger and O’Brien’s Signora are also towards the head of the betting.

Derby seventh Green Storm and 12th Nightwalker bid for compensation in the King Edward VII Stakes, in which Ralph Beckett’s unbeaten gelding Amiloc is set to be a popular choice.

Puppet Master won the Lingfield Derby Trial but bypassed Epsom and he is one of two for O’Brien along with Naas winner Galveston. Dante third Wimbledon Hawkeye runs for James Owen, while the progressive Zahrann represents Johnny Murtagh.

Teumessias Fox heads a maximum 19-strong field for the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, with 28 to go to post in both the Palace of Holyrood House Stakes and the Sandringham.

Zarigana team content with Coronation choice

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Zarigana is on course for a trip to Royal Ascot after connections resisted the temptation to bid for a Classic double in this weekend’s Prix de Diane in favour of a tilt at the Coronation Stakes.

Successful on three of her first four starts for Francis-Henri Graffard in the colours of the late Aga Khan, the Siyouni filly passed the post second to the Charlie Fellowes-trained Shes Perfect in the French 1000 Guineas, the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, before being promoted to first by the stewards.

Zarigana could have taken on Shes Perfect again in the French Oaks at Chantilly on Sunday, but she will instead stick to a mile on the penultimate day of the Royal meeting next week.

Nemone Routh, racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs, said: “The trainer was very keen to run Zarigana in Ascot. We obviously did consider the Prix de Diane because I think she relaxed a lot more last time and she seems to be gaining maturity in her races, so it did become more of an option to consider the Diane for her.

“But I think Francis has trained her more to race over a mile in this first part of the season, that doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t stretch her out later in the year. I think he felt it was always part of the programme that he had set aside for her that she would go to Royal Ascot after the Pouliches, especially as we had other fillies for the Diane.

“Zarigana is due to have her last piece of work tomorrow (Thursday) morning. She worked last week and is in good form, so provided all goes well tomorrow, I imagine it’s all systems go for Royal Ascot.”

In Zarigana’s absence, the Aga Khan’s team will be doubly represented in the Prix de Diane Longines, with French Guineas third Mandanaba carrying the colours of the late owner’s daughter Princess Zahra and Listed scorer Cankoura also in the mix.

Routh added: “Principally I think His Highness and Princess Zahra identify themselves as breeders who like to race their horses, and having fillies that are capable of running well in this race is one of our principal objectives of the year.

“We love to have fillies that can perform at the top level, the Prix de Diane is a race His Highness loved to have runners in and obviously he holds the record for the winning-most owner, and all of those fillies were bred by him as well.

“It’s a very special race for our organisation and we’re very happy to have two runners this year in the two different silks’.”

Monday Musings: When You’re Luck’s Out…

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I haven’t seen a proper replay of the French 1,000 Guineas finish - after that stewards’ enquiry I can’t be bothered to call it by its actual name, writes Tony Stafford. It’s hard not to be sorry for trainer Charlie Fellowes, his group of owners known as Basher Watts Racing 2 and jockey Kieran Shoemark, the team associated with Shes Perfect.

Sky Sports Racing elected to show the entirety of the 4.10 race from Plumpton, a series final hurdle race for inexperienced riders, with the big race (4.05 at Longchamp) showing commentary-free in a small right-hand corner of the screen. They played it after showing a re-run of the finish of the Plumpton race – maybe they were frightened that Peter Savill might get the needle if they went over to a Classic while it was actually being run?

After going over the line narrowly in first, the local stewards turned the verdict over in favour of Zarigana, running in the colours of the late Aga Khan. Everyone will be commiserating with Shoemark after the abrupt sacking as number one for the Gosden team following his fast-finishing second place on Field Of Gold in the previous weekend’s 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

A quick riposte on the next available weekend would have been a massive boost for him, but my own sympathies are at least as much directed to the owners who paid €50k for the Sioux Nation filly (out of a Galileo mare, no less) at Arqana’s May Breeze-Up a year ago. It was at that auction that Ruling Court, the horse that denied Field Of Gold and Shoemark, went through the ring 18 lots later for €2.3 million.

It would have been a remarkable Classic double on the same day for the sales company. Fellowes had fancied his chances of avenging a neck defeat by Zarigana in the Prix De La Grotte (Group 3), over the same course and distance last month.

In that context her price of 18/1 about Shes Perfect against the 4/5 of the favourite was a real aberration. Sadly, the stewards decided to allow yet another Classic win for those famous Aga Khan colours, denying Charlie Fellowes a crowning glory to his training career.

Immediately after the race, the jubilant owners, all booted and suited alike, were probably working out what each of them would be collecting from the £269k first prize. Their sights and no doubt their excitement was modulated with just over 100 grand to divvy up for second.

With 4th, 6th, 11th and 13th in the fillies’ Classic, Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore had a fleeting opportunity to see how the other half lives.

Leading into the Newmarket Guineas weekend, the story going around was that the Ballydoyle horses were a couple of weeks behind where the trainer would have liked and the single runner in both the 2,000 and 1,000 finished out of the frame.

Things move swiftly though in the pre-Derby and Oaks segment of the season and, since last weekend, O’Brien has won three Derby/Oaks trials at Chester; the Derby and Oaks trials at Lingfield on Saturday and Leopardstown’s time-honoured eliminator yesterday too.

To those manoeuvring performances, there was the more meaningful one-three in the French 2,000 Guineas that immediately preceded the fillies’ race. Here, Moore on Henry Matisse got the better of Andrew Balding’s Jonquil with Camille Pissarro a fast-finishing third after a crazy early gallop.

Fellowes did well here too. He had also given Luther a bright chance beforehand, conceding that a wide draw didn’t help. He flew down the outside for fourth, a short neck behind the O’Brien second string, again under Shoemark.

That sequence of O’Brien winners inevitably will have the York bookmakers dreading what to expect from the one talking horse of the spring among Coolmore’s Derby candidates. The Lion In Winter, who had the 2,000 Guineas hero Ruling Court back in third place when they met in last year’s Acomb Stakes over seven furlongs of the course in August is primed for his re-introduction in the Dante Stakes.

It was in this race 12 months ago that we saw a Derby-level performance by William Haggas’s Economics, but he reckoned the colt was too immature for the Derby at that stage of his development, and he duly sidestepped the Classic.

There will not be any similar reservations this time I’m sure, especially if the Lion In Winter can cope with Ruling Court’s stablemate, unbeaten supplementary entry Alpine Trail, who made his tally three from three in the Newmarket Stakes at the Guineas meeting.

Now it’s ten and a half furlongs, a trip more commensurate with The Lion In Winter’s pedigree. He is by Sea The Stars, unbeaten champion and Derby winner in 2009 from a staying female family, with the broodmare sire Lope De Vega also a good stamina influence. I can’t see why they are questioning his stamina – but every year of course they do!

He too was a sales buy, from Goffs Orby Book 1 in September 2023. The only surprise apart from his having ability, is that he cost a relatively modest €375,000. Some may say, a cup of tea. This game gets you thinking that way sometimes.

To list the Derby bit-part players for Aidan – a wise enough policy granted the wins within the past ten years of 40/1 shot Wings Of Eagles and Serpentine, 25/1 in the “Covid” Derby. I wonder whether Boris Johnson ought to have sponsored it. Serpentine was sold to Australia after a dull end to his Ballydoyle career and has run 16 times there for one win. His last run on January 1, was one of his worst, 14th of 15 in a Group 2 handicap. Not all the Williams acquisitions turn to gold.

Delacroix, impressive in an admittedly thin Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Group 3 over ten furlongs at Leopardstown is sure to be in the Epsom line-up. The race has had several titles over the years, but the finest of them was when Golden Fleece beat Assert in the 1982 edition before Golden Fleece won the Derby so stylishly and Assert the French and Irish Derbys.

Both carried the Robert Sangster colours, Golden Fleece trained by Vincent O’Brien and Assert by his son David.

I had a particular interest in that race as fourth was Duke Of Dollis, who had the unfortunate task of taking the pair on twice for two places, previously when third in the Ballysax Stakes.

He ended up coming over to the UK and, trained by David Elsworth, turned up in a seller at Windsor. In those days it wasn’t regarded as de rigeur to claim horses, so I sent my deputy Adrian Hunt to do the dirty work.

Elsie wasn’t delighted but to his credit Adrian was always one to keep things close to his chest – unlike me! Sent to Roddy Armytage, Marcus’s father and a very good trainer, he recorded a hat-trick over hurdles for a team of very nice people who we managed to put together as a syndicate.

- TS