The Weekly Wrap

This week's dispatch comes to you from Deauville, where a notable number of new faces, particularly from Japan, have mingled with the usual cast of thousands playing leading roles and bit parts in the first major yearling sale of the European season.

The barmen in Le Drakkar will be glad to see the back of the noisy crowd of Brits and Irish who take advantage of the fact that they temporarily have no homes to go to by staying up way past sensible bedtimes for horsemen. And it's a safe bet that most French trainers will be glad to see the back of their British counterparts who have been mopping up Deauville's major races since the summer season began.

On Sunday, Karl Burke hammered the point home with a one-two in the G1 Darley Prix Morny with Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) and Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {GB}), while Roger Varian continued his excellent week when saddling Ajman Princess (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) to win the G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet. Hughie Morrison has had a terrific run in France this season with his stayers and struck again with the satisfyingly stoic Marmelo (GB), who, along with Big Orange (GB), is doing a great job of advertising the merits of his overlooked sire Duke Of Marmalade (Ire). The 4-year-old added the G2 Prix Kergorlay to his G3 Prix de Barbeville victory back in April and his owner-breeders Edward and Christabel Goodwin of The Fairy Story Partnership and Deepwood Farm Stud now hope to make another cross-Channel raid in October for the Arc.

Everyone's favourite curmudgeon, David Elsworth, has twice been narrowly denied Group victories in Deaville in the past week. The front-running Tisbutadream (Ire) (Dream Ahead) was overhauled at the death by Lady Frankel (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G3 Prix Lieurey last Tuesday, while Desert Skyline (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), the only 3-year-old in the Kergorlay field, ran home well for second having previously finished third behind Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup.

Bavaria's Best
The aforementioned Lady Frankel was the first of two stakes winners in France this week for Gestüt Ammerland and will have been the most satisfying as she remains in the stud's green and red silks. The half-sister to dual Classic winner and Ballylinch stallion, Lope De Vega–who had eight yearlings sold at Arqana over the weekend for an average of €190,000–is the fourth stakes winner for her dam Lady Vettori (GB) (Vettori {Ire}). French Group 3 winner Bal De La Rose (Ire) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) and Lord Of The Land (Ire) (Shamardal) complete the quartet, while her daughter Light The Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is also Group 3-placed in France.

The German stud's Normandy purple patch continued when Bay Of Poets (Ire), a 3-year-old son of Lope De Vega, won the Listed Prix Pelleas for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby at Clairefontaine on Friday.

His is another family of which Ammerland owner Dietrich von Boetticher is rightly proud. Bay Of Poets' third dam Britannia (Ger) (Tarim {GB}) was responsible for the multiple Group 1-winning pair of Borgia (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}) and Boreal (Ger) (Java Gold), the latter being the first German horse to win a British Group 1, which he did when beating Storming Home (GB) in the 2002 Coronation Cup. Now 19, Boreal still stands at Ammerland in Bavaria and looked in terrific order when we visited him in January, as did Lady Vettori, who is 20 and has a yearling full-sister to Lope De Vega to race for her.

Sales Race Incentive For Gansera-Leveque
Continuing the German theme, hard on the heels of next week's Premier and Silver Sales at Goffs UK comes the BBAG one-day yearling auction on Sept. 1. The German Elvis impersonator at the traditional eve-of-sale party is one of the many good reasons to head to Baden-Baden but on a more serious note, a series of 17 auction races worth more than €1 million for 2-year-old and 3-year-old graduates of the sale, offers extra incentive.

German-born but Newmarket-based trainer Ilka Gansera-Leveque had an eye-catching success with a first-time-out runner in the series back in 2012 when Tosca (Ger) (Amadeus Wolf {GB}) dead-heated with Jean-Claude Rouget's Molly Mara (Ger) (Big Shuffle). The vet-turned-trainer is heading back to Baden-Baden this weekend to make a second raid on the six-furlong contest for fillies with her physically imposing debutante Folklore (Ger), a Lethal Force (Ire) juvenile out of Focal (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) who was bought for €22,000 last year from the Gestut Rottgen draft.

Freshman Sires Rampant
It's turning into a battle royal at the head of the first-season sires' table in Europe with the former Tally-Ho Stud resident Society Rock now having a numerical and financial advantage at the head of affairs after gaining a major boost through his first Group 1 winner, Unfortunately. It is unfortunate indeed that Society Rock in no longer with us and it's understandable, if a little depressing, that his standout son is already being talked about as a stallion prospect for next year rather than a racing prospect. It's worth remembering, however, that Society Rock didn't do his best work until he was four and older.

Unfortunately's runner-up on Sunday, the immensely likeable and hardy Havana Grey will also be on the lists of various stallion masters but in the meantime is raising the profile of Havana Gold, who, with 19 individual winners, is just two behind Society Rock and is thus the most successful active freshman sire.

Havana Grey was bred in partnership by Mickley Stud and Lady Caroline Lonsdale, and the latter has also enjoyed stakes success as an owner this year in France. With former BHB chairman Peter Savill, Lady Lonsdale, under her Lowther Racing banner, owns the Mark Johnston-trained Izzy Bizu (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who has been almost as active as Havana Grey this season. In six starts, the 2-year-old filly has won four races, including last month's Listed Prix Six Perfections at Deauville.

On the freshman table, Dabirsim (Fr) is flying the flag for France and Haras de Grandcamp with his first German-conceived crop and has maintained a killer strike-rate all season. With 10 winners, he is now operating at 40%, and his Royal Ascot-winning daughter Different League (Fr) laid down a serious challenge to the colts when finishing a close third in the Morny. She heads next to Newmarket for the G1 Cheveley Park S.

Dabirsim's yearling half-brother by Frankel was sold for €550,000 by Grandcamp to Richard Knight on Saturday night at Arqana and will race in the colours of Hussain Lootah, who also co-owns Group 3 winner Frankuus (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).