By Tom Frary
Gifted an ideal lead in Sunday's G3 Prix de Fontainebleau, Aurelien Lemaitre took full advantage to steer Nurlan Bizakov's Ramadan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}–Raushan {Ire}, by Dalakhani {Ire}) to success in the key G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains trial. Race-fit having registered a five-length success in the Listed Prix Omnium II at Saint-Cloud last month, the Christopher Head-trained homebred who had been fourth in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud last term ticked off honest fractions on the front end before kicking in early straight.
Getting the jump on the returning TDN Rising Star Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) there, the 6-4 favourite had extra to give as that chief market rival paid late for having to accelerate harder to close. At the line, Ramadan had 3/4 of a length to spare over him, with the same margin back to the re-opposing Omnium runner-up Grey Man (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who narrowed the gap between him and the winner. The sectionals were faster at every step than the Grotte, suggesting that the winner made it a relative test by French trial standards.
“The better the ground, the better the horse, I would say,” Bizakov said. “It is emotional for me, because he is by Le Havre, who is no longer with us and I bought the mare from Lady O'Reilly, who is no longer with us. For sure he deserves to be in the Poulains and we'll go there with an open mind. He'll stay the Jockey Club distance too.”
Before taking part in the 10-furlong Criterium de Saint-Cloud, Ramadan had beaten the same owner's Narkez (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at Chantilly in September and that Andre Fabre trainee has subsequently gained a TDN Rising Star tag and heads to Newmarket for Wednesday's nine-furlong Listed Feilden S. Bizakov was not ruling out the prospect of running both in the Poulains. “They are with different trainers, so I might end up with two horses running,” he added. “We'll see what happens on Wednesday and make a plan.”
Trainer Yann Barberot was happy with the effort of the G3 Prix la Rochette winner Beauvatier and said, “It was an excellent performance for his first time over a mile on very soft ground. The winner had the benefit of a previous run and was not for catching after leading.”
Pedigree Notes
Ramadan's dam Raushan, a 400,000gns Tatts Book 1 purchase who stayed a mile and a half, gave an instant return on that pay-out by producing as her first foal the Listed Fleur de Lys S. winner and G3 Hoppings S. runner-up Rasima (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}). Out of Lady O'Reilly's smart Chiang Mai (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who captured the Blandford S. when it was staged as a group 3 and was runner-up in the G2 Prix Jean de Chaudenay, she is a full-sister to the triple group-winning Chinese White (Ire). Her career highlights included success in the G1 Pretty Polly S. and the Blandford in its current guise as a group 2 event, before producing the G3 Supreme S. runner-up Misty Grey (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).
The third dam is the renowned Eljazzi (Artaius), responsible for the G1 Prix de Diane heroine Rafha (GB)
(Kris {GB}) who in turn achieved notoriety as the dam of the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup hero and significant sire Invicible Spirit (Ire) and his G3 Princess Royal S.-winning half-sister Acts Of Grace (Bahri) who in turn threw Make Believe's triple top-level scorer Mishriff (Ire). Rafha's Listed Empress S.-winning daughter Massarra (GB) (Danehill) also proved herself an excellent producer with six black-type winners including Galileo's G2 Superlative S.-winning sire Gustav Klimt (Ire). Raushan's 2-year-old filly is by Showcasing (GB).
https://twitter.com/i/status/1779520275039613082
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DE FONTAINEBLEAU-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 4-14, 3yo, c/g, 8fT, 1:43.18, vs.
1–RAMADAN (FR), 128, c, 3, by Le Havre (Ire)
1st Dam: Raushan (Ire), by Dalakhani (Ire)
2nd Dam: Chiang Mai (Ire), by Sadler=s Wells
3rd Dam: Eljazzi (Ire), by Artaius
1ST GROUP WIN. O-Nurlan Bizakov; B-Sumbe (FR); T-Christopher Head; J-Aurelien Lemaitre. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-0, €99,975. *1/2 to Rasima (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}), SW & GSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Beauvatier (Fr), 128, c, 3, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Enchanting Skies (Ire), by Sea The Stars (Ire).
TDN Rising Star. (€160,000 Ylg '22 ARQAUG). O-Philippe Allaire & Haras d'Etreham; B-Ecurie des Monceaux, Qatar Bloodstock Ltd & Mme Barbara M Keller (FR); T-Yann Barberot. €16,000.
3–Grey Man (Fr), 128, c, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Top Toss (Ire), by Linamix (Fr). (€39,000 RNA Wlg '21 ARQDEC; €60,000 RNA Ylg '22 ARQOCT). O-Julien Dubois & Jean-Philippe Dubois; B-Ecurie Skymarc Farm; T-Patrice Cottier. €12,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, SNK. Odds: 1.50, 1.70, 14.00.
Also Ran: Zabiari (GB), Metropolitan (Fr), Ten Horns (Fr). Video, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
