Easy For Holy Roman Emperor's Romanised In the Jacques le Marois

Romanised | Scoop Dyga

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Sunday's G1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois at Deauville looked perfectly teed-up for Robert Ng's Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and last year's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero did not need a second invitation to secure another major prize for the Ken Condon stable. Ridden patiently in fifth by Billy Lee, the 7-2 shot who was so impressive in The Curragh's G2 Minstrel S. cruised to Shaman (Ire) (Shamardal) approaching the furlong pole and readily asserted to beat that rival by 1 1/4 lengths, with Line of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) a nose back in third. “Ken and his team have done a great job and he knew he had him as good as he has for a long time,” the owner's representative Rupert Pritchard-Gordon said. “He was weak last year and probably the Irish Guineas took a lot out of him. With his style of racing, you've got to ride patiently and Robert [Ng] said this morning to count to ten and that's exactly what Billy did. This is a fantastic race to win and thanks to the Niarchos family for sponsoring it for so long.”

Entering the 2018 Irish 2000 Guineas as a 25-1 shot, Romanised had been only 6-1 when disappointing in seventh in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot in June before starting this race at 51-1 12 months ago. Only fifth behind Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) on that occasion, he may have been undone by the soft ground when ninth in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. back at Ascot in October. Granted a winter's strengthening, the bay was a luckless fifth in the G3 Gladness S. over seven furlongs at Naas Apr. 13 before finishing fourth in the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury May 18 and suffering another troubled passage when fourth in the G1 Queen Anne S. back at Royal Ascot June 18.

His subsequent defeat of Hey Gaman (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) in the July 20 Minstrel reverting to seven had sharpened him for this and with the ground staying on the quicker side and the stable's smart stalwart Success Days (Ire) (Jeremy) to aim at he had everything in his favour. Always travelling like the best horse in the contest, he was full of running when asked to claim Shaman at the distance and was not fully extended to assert his superiority from there.

“It is fantastic–there have been some great winners of this through the years and he was always travelling smooth and was impressive,” Condon commented. “He's a horse with a lot of class and is always underestimated a little bit, running at some big prices. Last year, when he went to Ascot he was probably not good enough for that at that point but he's got much stronger and more mature and showed his true class here. The timing is perfect for the [Oct. 6 G1 Prix de la] Foret [at ParisLongchamp] and then I want to take him to the Breeders' Cup Mile.”

Like the winner last year, Shaman was also unable to land a blow in the St James's Palace and trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias was pleased to see the Wertheimer homebred bounce back. “I'm delighted with his run–I thought Romanised was the horse to beat when I saw how unlucky he was in the Queen Anne, so this was not a surprise to me,” he said of the 3-year-old. “My horse ran a great race and is getting closer to winning a group 1, so we'll try again in the [G1 Prix du] Moulin [at ParisLongchamp Sept. 8].”

Charlie Appleby was also satisfied with the return to form of the third, who would have been better placed in another stride and said, “I was delighted with Line of Duty today and we are back on track with him. Today was his first start back at a mile this year and he has put up another solid performance. We will look at keeping at around a mile for the moment. More importantly, some cut in the ground will hopefully see a bit more improvement from him.”

Alexander Tamagni-Bodmer and Regula Vannod's G1 Coronation S. winner and 21-10 favourite Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) was fourth and trainer Francis-Henri Graffard was taking it on the chin. “At this stage, I'm not making any excuses and the gap between her last race and this was not the problem. The jockey said when he tried to make a move with the winner she switched leads quite a few times, so maybe she was not comfortable but I'm not certain that is enough to explain it.”

Romanised emanates from a Moyglare family, with the winning dam Romantic Venture (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) having been sold for just €40,000 at the 2008 Goffs November Mares Sale having at that stage produced only the dual listed scorer Fictional Account (Ire) (Stravinsky). After her rehoming, she threw the G3 St Leger Italiano winner Rock of Romance (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) and Romanised to greatly enhance her profile.

A full-sister to the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. and G3 Arc Trial S. scorer Sights On Gold (Ire) and half to the four-times group 1-wining Hong Kong Horse of the Year Designs On Rome (Ire) by Romanised's sire Holy Roman Emperor, Romantic Venture who has the as-yet unraced 3-year-old full-sister to Romanised named Roman Venture (Ire) is also kin to the GII American Derby winner Simple Exchange (Ire) (Danehill). The third dam Seasonal Pickup (The Minstrel) is the second dam of the G2 Feehan S. winner and G1 George Ryder S. runner-up Rekindled Interest (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}).

Sunday, Deauville, France
PRIX DU HARAS DE FRESNAY-LE-BUFFARD JACQUES LE MAROIS-G1, €1,000,000, Deauville, 8-11, 3yo/up, 8fT, 1:35.16, gd.
1–ROMANISED (IRE), 134, c, 4, by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)">Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)
1st Dam: Romantic Venture (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
2nd Dam: Summer Trysting, by Alleged
3rd Dam: Seasonal Pickup, by The Minstrel
O-Robert Ng; B-Mrs Monica Aherne (IRE); T-Ken Condon; J-Billy Lee. €571,400. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Ire & GSP-Eng, 14-4-1-0, €986,465. *1/2 to Rock of Romance (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), GSW-Ity, SW & MGSP-Ger, $125,944; and Fictional Account (Ire) (Stravinsky), Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 14f+, SW-Eng & Ire, SP-Aus, $178,094. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Shaman (Ire), 125, c, 3, Shamardal–Only Green (Ire), by Green Desert. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (IRE); T-Carlos Laffon-Parias. €228,600.
3–Line of Duty (Ire), 125, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Jacqueline Quest (Ire), by Rock of Gibraltar (Ire). (400,000gns Ylg '17 TATOCT). O-Godolphin; B-Triermore Stud (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby. €114,300.
Margins: 1 1/4, NO, 1 1/4. Odds: 3.50, 3.70, 7.80.
Also Ran: Watch Me (Fr), Graignes (Fr), Study of Man (Ire), Success Days (Ire), Vocal Music (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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