Brandt Aiming For Further Group 1 Glory

Pia Brandt welcomes Mont Ormel after his Group 1 victory last summer | Scoop Dyga

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It seems unlikely that Pia Brandt will be waiting another decade for a second Group 1 winner, even if her first helper has now departed. Mont Ormel (Fr) (Air Chief Marshall {Ire}), who claimed last summer's G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, was the subject of an offer too generous to refuse by owner Gerard Augustin-Normand and is now running in Hong Kong under the guise of Helene Charisma. But Brandt, the Swede who arrived in Chantilly at the end of 2005, should still reap some benefits.

“The goals are getting bigger for us,” she said. “We had a good year and a few group and listed winners. Unfortunately some have been sold, I can understand it. Mr. Augustin-Normand has the whole family and has put many more horses in training with us this year, so I hope I have a new Mont Ormel in the group. Why not?”

Others to join the exodus of talent included Camprock (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), who finished runner-up in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary before picking up an injury in the G1 Prix de Diane. She was bought by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm for €850,000 at Deauville's December Sales and is to be covered by Deep Impact (Jpn).

G3 Prix Allez France winner Marypop (Fr) (Layman) and promising juvenile Rymska (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) moved to America, the latter winning last Saturday's G3 Sweetest Chant S. at Gulfstream for Chad Brown. All is not lost, according to a roll-call that should reach a new peak of 90 horses.

“I do hopefully have some nice 3-year-old fillies,” Brandt explained. “Mont Ormel's half-sister Normandel (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) won her maiden, was second behind Toulifaut (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in a G3 and then sixth, not beaten far, in the [G1] Prix Marcel Boussac.”

“She has really come on during the winter, it will be quite nice to see her. She will probably run in a Listed fillies' race, and her goal is the [G1] Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for the beginning of the season.”

Normandie (Ger) is a Redoute´s Choice (Aus) filly who won very nicely on her last run last year and is probably a horse we're going to try to get ready for the [G1] Prix de Diane. We'll see if we can find something easy for her first time out, then see if we go for the Prix Saint-Alary or another Group race.”

“I can't forget Fas (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who was placed in Group races and fourth in the [G2] Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte. He's not a big horse but he's picked up more volume and I hope I can make him stay 1600m. He's quite intelligent so hopefully he can.”

Brandt's words often have a Scandinavian directness and her deeds are backed up by a profound sense of competence. Despite initial success with her husband, former jockey Joakim, in Stockholm, they sought better facilities and it can hardly have been easy to uproot to the competitive French scene. After a few years making quiet progress, Dastarhon (Ire) (Dansili {Ire}) emerged second at 50-1 in the 2013 French Guineas. The following year she had the good stayer Bathyrhon (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), while L'Amour De Ma Vie (Dansili {GB}) won the G2 Balanchine S. in Dubai before running an honourable second to the top-class Integral (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. at Royal Ascot, Brandt's first British runner. She has also successfully targeted Lingfield's All-Weather Championships in 2015 with Fresles (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}), with Metropol (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) taking third last year.

“I like going abroad – I don't need to stay in France if I have the right horses for the right races,” she said. “I'm trying to get Metropol into the final at Lingfield again. He won the other day here and his next run is Mar. 2, they have some prep races for Dubai at Chantilly.”

“I've got some fillies in Dubai, I was very pleased with their runs in the [G2] Cape Verdi S. Silver Step (Fr) (Silver Frost {Ire}) was a close fourth and Via Firenze (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) finished very well and was only beaten three and a quarter lengths in sixth. They will go for the [G2] Balanchine in two weeks' time and then come back home. Hopefully they will have been so good they can come for the Duke Of Cambridge.”

Brandt rode 80-odd winners as a professional during three seasons in Sweden until she decided to concentrate on training, while Joakim still partners one lot a day on the gallops. “We work as much as we can together and if one is away, the other is always in the yard, keeping an eye on everything,” she said. “I had fun riding and I like that I have that experience behind me – hopefully the jockeys think so too! That's not one of my things, I try to give the jockeys white card to make the decisions themselves and it's nice to work with some of the best, like Maxime Guyon, Mickael Barzalona and Cristian Demuro.”

As much as Brandt brought her own ideas with her, she feels Chantilly has been a major influence in her development. “We've had our own place for over two years now, that makes you feel more comfortable,” she said. “It has been a pleasure to see how Andre Fabre and Alain de Royer-Dupre are training. They are training in different ways but with a lot of success. It's nice to see how they work in that environment, I've always had an eye on what they're doing. They won't come to you and give you advice, but you can ask them, and they like it.”

 

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