By Tom Frary
Her title suggests she should have been the centre of attention, but Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) had escaped almost all the focus taking part in a renewal of Royal Ascot's G1 Coronation S. dominated by Coolmore and Juddmonte. While Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Jubiloso (GB) (Shamardal) played out their keenly-anticipated act, Alexander Tamagni's G3 Prix Imprudence winner slipped past and on to glory with no hint of fluke to cap a stellar week for the Francis-Henris Graffard stable. Only sixth in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches when last seen May 12, the 20-1 shot travelled like a dream throughout under one of France's very best in Pierre-Charles Boudot. Stalking Hermosa, she moved by the even-money favourite with over a furlong remaining and was pushed out to readily assert for a convincing 1 1/2-length success, with Jubiloso a length behind in third. “It's a week you dream of. As I was saying on Sunday, you get up every morning to do this job and to be part of the game at this level,” commented Graffard, who had won Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane with Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}). “She was a bit unlucky last time and I kept my faith in her. I said to the owners we must go to Ascot and they trusted me and let me do my job.”
Ascot's rain certainly aided Watch Me, who handled heavy ground when winning the Listed Criterium du Languedoc at this trip in November and good-to-soft when upstaging the smart Fabre runner Suphala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) in the Apr. 10 Imprudence at Maisons-Laffitte. Her effort in the Pouliches can be upgraded, as she met significant trouble in the straight when building a head of steam and so she arrived here as an unexposed danger. Where she was hemmed in throughout that ParisLongchamp Classic, she enjoyed a clean trip here with only the Irish Guineas one-two Hermosa and Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) ahead. Watch Me carried Boudot to the lead and it was notable that he was the last jockey to be animated in the straight, with Hermosa boxing on against the fence and Jubiloso looking to run out of stamina in the final yards.
Watch Me was winning the one race at the meeting that has always favoured the French, becoming the 12th from that country to succeed and joining the likes of Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill), Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and Ervedya (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) on the honour roll. The occasion was not lost on Graffard. “That's why I set up in Chantilly–I wanted to win Classics and big races. It happened on Sunday, which was a big day for a Frenchman, and I was confident today again.”
Just as the Commonwealth Cup hero Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) had done minutes earlier, Watch Me was banishing the memory of an unplaced run in a mile Classic. “I thought we had to put that race in the [French] Guineas behind us, because everything went against her and today we were 20-1 which was good for me,” her trainer continued. “I was able to say to the owners, 'Enjoy yourself, we are an outsider and there is no pressure'. After the Guineas, Olivier Peslier told me to run her in the Prix de Diane, but as she had suffered bad luck in the race I didn't want to change everything and so I decided to stay at a mile and with the first plan to go to Ascot.” Boudot added, “I was behind Hermosa travelling very well, very easy, and then she gave me a really nice turn of foot. She did it very easily today. She has a big heart and is very courageous and it's a big day for me.”
Hermosa's trainer Aidan O'Brien was pondering a step up in trip for the runner-up, who failed to emulate Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) and Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in completing the English-Irish Guineas-Coronation treble. “There are no excuses,” he said. “We will get her back home and see how she is before we decide on any plans for her, including if we try further in distance. Her half-sister got a mile and a half.” Ryan Moore added, “She ran well–she has had a hard couple of races and maybe today they just caught up with her.”
Khalid Abdullah's TDN Rising Star Jubiloso met with defeat for the first time on her first start in any black-type race, so connections were taking the positives. “She probably just lacked a little bit of experience, but we have to very pleased with that and we hope she is going to turn into the filly we hope she will be,” Teddy Grimthorpe commented. “She is in the [July 12 G1] Falmouth [at Newmarket], but we will have to see how she is.”
Watch Me's dam Watchful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was a winner over a mile and a half for De la Warr Racing and Luca Cumani, who occupied one of the carriages in the Royal procession before racing got underway. She is a half-sister to Rabi (Ire) (Alzao) who was runner-up in the GIII Poker H. and G3 Scottish Classic, and also to the G3 Coventry S. third Kawagino (Ire) (Perugino). She is a granddaughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sharaya (Youth), who is the second dam of the multiple group 1-placed sprinter Hamish McGonagall (GB) (Namid {GB}) and the G2 Centaur S. winner and G1 Sprinters S. runner-up sans Adieu (Jpn) (French Deputy). Watchful's 2017 and 2018 colts are by Elvstroem (Aus), with the former named Watchmen (Fr). Both were offered at Arqana's October Yearling and December Breeding Stock Sale at the end of last year, but neither met their reserve with the latter heading back to his breeder after failing to achieve more than €5,000.
Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
CORONATION S.-G1, £500,000, Royal Ascot, 6-21, 3yo, f, 7f 213yT, 1:39.61, gd.
1–WATCH ME (FR), 126, f, 3, by Olympic Glory (Ire)
1st Dam: Watchful (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sharakawa (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Sharaya, by Youth
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€30,000 RNA Ylg '17 ARAUG). O-Alexander Tamagni; B-Mme Antoinette Tamagni-Bodmer & Cocheese Bloodstock Anstalt (FR); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Pierre-Charles Boudot. £283,550. Lifetime Record: GSW-Fr, 5-3-0-1, $443,887. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hermosa (Ire), 126, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Beauty Is Truth (Ire), by Pivotal (GB). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Beauty Is Truth Syndicate (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £107,500.
3–Jubiloso (GB), 126, f, 3, Shamardal–Joyeuse (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB). O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £53,800.
Margins: 1HF, 1, 1. Odds: 20.00, 1.00, 4.50.
Also Ran: Twist 'n' Shake (GB), Castle Lady (Ire), Happen, Pretty Pollyanna (GB), Just Wonderful, Main Edition (Ire). Scratched: Mot Juste. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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