By Tom Frary
Respected against the formidable Fabre duo by the Saint-Cloud crowd, Recoletos who came into this Derby trial on the back of two conditions wins emerged clear best to state a convincing Classic case. Off the mark over 11 furlongs at Fontainebleau Mar. 9, the imposing bay followed up over the Jockey Club trip of 10 1/2 furlongs here Apr. 2 which was authoritative enough to ensure he attracted support taking on last year's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Waldgeist. Anchored with one behind early by Olivier Peslier, he quickly subdued that rival when given the office with 300 metres remaining and surged into the clear under hand riding. “We had various options with him, including running in a listed race but we wanted to find out if he was good enough for the [G1] Prix du Jockey Club [at Chantilly June 4] and whether it was worth supplementing him for it,” trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias commented. “He won very well and beat two of last year's top two-year-olds fair and square, so we have earned the money to supplement now.”
The dam, who has a 2-year-old filly by American Post (GB) and a yearling full-sister to Recoletos, is a daughter of the GII Garden City Breeders' Cup H. and G3 Prix de Sandringham winner Pharatta. Her four black-type siblings include the G2 Grosser Preis von Dusseldorf and G2 Premio Ribot-winning sire Crimson Tide (Ire) and the G3 Give Thanks S. winner Tamarind (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), whose 3-year-old daughter Tansholpan (GB) (Dansili {GB}) was third in last year's Listed Montrose Fillies S. and lines up in Wednesday's Listed Cheshire Oaks. The unraced third dam Sharata is a half to the 1986 G1 English and Irish Derby-winning sire Shahrastani.
Monday, Saint-Cloud, France
PRIX GREFFULHE-G2, €130,000, SCD, 5-8, 3yo, c/f, 10fT, 2:13.97, vsf.
1–#@RECOLETOS (FR), 128, c, 3, by Whipper
1st Dam: Highphar (Fr), by Highest Honor (Fr)
2nd Dam: Pharatta (Ire), by Fairy King
3rd Dam: Sharata (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
O/B-SARL Darpat France (FR); T-Carlos Laffon-Parias; J-Olivier Peslier. €74,100. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, €103,050. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Waldgeist (GB), 128, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Waldlerche (GB), by Monsun (Ger). O-Gestut Ammerland, Newsells Park Stud, Michael Tabor & Susan Magnier; B-Waldlerche Partnership (GB); T-Andre Fabre. €28,600.
3–Akihiro (Jpn), 128, c, 3, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Baahama (Ire), by Anabaa. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (JPN); T-Andre Fabre. €13,650.
Margins: 2HF, HD, 1 3/4. Odds: 3.50, 1.10, 1.60.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]Also Ran: Monreal (Ire), Saldier (Fr). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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