Graffard Erupts Onto French Training Scene

Since the storming of the Bastille in 1789, July 14 has been a day of national celebration in France. For Francis Graffard, that date will also now commemorate a much more personal celebration, marking the day that Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) staged his own Parisian revolution when storming to a two-length victory in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris to secure his trainer a much coveted first Group 1 success.

The Niarchos-bred colt had done little wrong before lining up at Longchamp and was in fact unbeaten in his three previous races, including at listed and Group 3 level, but the presence in the field of Andre Fabre's Prix Hocquart winner Ampere (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}); King Edward VII S. winner Balios (Ire) (Shamardal); and the English and Irish Derby-placed Storm The Stars (Sea The Stars {Ire}) meant that Erupt was sent off only fourth in the betting among the select field of six.

With his credentials now fully stamped, he will be campaigned for the remainder of the season towards return journeys to the Paris track–first for the G2 Prix Niel in September before a tilt at France's main event, the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on the first Sunday in October.

Referred to by Graffard as the “cherry on top” of a very pleasing season for Chantilly's fastest-rising trainer, Erupt has helped to propel his young handler to sixth on the French trainers' table behind the established names of Fabre, Rouget, Pantall, de Royer Dupre and Head. “I left it late to start,” said Graffard. “I thought I was 37 but my wife has informed me I'm 38.”

Still the right side of 40 and very much a junior when compared to the esteemed colleagues he is chasing in the table, Graffard packed plenty of experience in to his working years before setting up as a trainer with six horses in October 2011. A graduate of the inaugural Darley Flying Start course, on which he met his Irish wife Lisa-Jane, he spent four years in Newmarket as Darley's racing representative, liaising with the many different trainers responsible for the horses of Sheikh Mohammed and his associates before returning to his native country to assist one of France's most respected trainers, Alain de Royer Dupre, for three years. He said, “I always wanted to be a trainer in Chantilly and with the experience I have had travelling to different places in the racing world, it confirmed for me that Chantilly was where I wanted to be. The racing system in France works well for international owners and I thought that would be a good marketing point for me with the contacts I had made in different countries, but it was still tough. In the beginning, it was hard to convince people to send me horses. When I started off with six, they were all from people I didn't know, which was surprising.”

Among that first batch, however, was Pearl Flute (Ire) (Piccolo {GB}), who in June 2012 became Graffard's first stakes winner when making an eye-catching debut in the Listed Prix Yacowlef, beating subsequent G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Style Vendome (Fr) (Anabaa). It no doubt helped Graffard's cause that the youngster was owned by Sheik Fahad Al Thani's burgeoning Pearl Bloodstock operation, later to become Qatar Racing, which now has four horses in training with him, including this season's G2 Prix Greffulhe winner Sumbal (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

Other major patrons have been quick to support the stable, with Al Shaqab Racing currently having eight in training with Graffard, along with the Wildenstein family, Khalifa Al Attiyah, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, and a decent smattering of English and Irish owners.

“In my first season I had three black-type winners and was able to prove to people that I could do the job, so the stable grew to 25 horses the next year,” Graffard explained. “The Niarchos family sent me horses from the start and in the first season I had Erupt's half-sister Inner Sea (Henrythenavigator). At the time we had so few horses there were only two of us riding and she dropped me about 20 times that first winter. Her brother has helped me to forgive her for all the times I fell off.”

Despite the steady rise in numbers, the trainer admits that it hasn't all been plain sailing while charting his route towards the top.

“Last year was a bit tricky,” he said in his excellent idiomatic English. “I had about 38 second places and it was difficult, but it's hard to moan when the horses are running well. We still managed to win five listed races, but you need the winners, they are what counts.”

“So this year was really important for me, but we've been lucky to have such nice horses and they are running well,” he added.

Those nice horses included two Classic runners with excellent chances–Karar (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Sumbal in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club.

“Karar and Sumbal were both unraced at two and then they had a good spring. They were fourth and fifth in their Classics and I said to Lisa-Jane, 'what do I have to do to have a Group 1 winner?'”

The answer wasn't long in coming. Exactly a month after winning the G3 Prix du Lys at Chantilly, Erupt repaid the faith and money invested in him by his owner and trainer in supplementing him for the Grand Prix de Paris with his assertive winning performance in top-level company.

“It's incredible what he has achieved,” said Graffard. “At home we've always loved him, even before he made his debut, not because he was any good–he showed us nothing–but because he really is just a very nice horse with a fantastic temperament.”

In the tense business of racehorse training, it helps of course if the man in charge also has a good temperament. Calm and quietly spoken with impeccable manners, Graffard undoubtedly has the mental aptitude to repel the slings and arrows that come hand-in-hand with running a stable on a daily basis, and he is supported in this regard by his equally well-credentialed wife.

Lisa-Jane hails from a family steeped in breeding and racing–her mother Virginia Moeran bred the four-time G1 Irish St Leger winner Vinnie Roe (Ire) (Definite Article {GB})–so is perfectly equipped to assist her husband when required, but her own role is as Godolphin's French racing representative. Graffard said of his wife, with whom he has two daughters–Victoria, 5, and Scarlett, 3–“I have so much respect for her; she's unbelievably knowledgeable about racing and bloodstock but she never interferes with my training. Of course we go to the races together and we talk about the horses but she doesn't question my decisions. I think we match each other well and we're lucky to be in the same business and able to support each other.”

While this spring and summer have brought success and happiness to the Lamorlaye base of the Graffards, the trainer is quick to point to the fact that the season is far from over, with important autumn engagements not far from his mind. Erupt may well be joined in the Arc field by Sumbal, while Karar will return soon from his break after running fourth in the French Guineas.

“Sumbal is better on softer ground and I think he will be even better as he matures. He's coming back nicely after the French Derby,” Graffard noted. “Karar had three strong races in the spring and needed a break. We'll see him back in the autumn, probably in listed races, and I'm hoping for a good 4-year-old season for him.”

With more than two months to go until France's biggest weekend of racing, Graffard isn't getting too carried away with Arc dreams just yet, but having two contenders in the stable deemed worthy of consideration for the race is doubtless something he'd have been delighted to settle for when he started his training career just four years ago. How Erupt fares in a potentially mouth-watering clash with English and Irish Derby winners Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling), not to mention a certain mare named Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), remains to be seen but he has done enough already to ensure an enduring place in his young trainer's heart.