BRANDO STEALS SHOW IN FRANCE
BRANDO stole the show when taking the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville yesterday.
The Group 1 event was thought to be the ideal contest for Caravaggio to redeem himself after suffering his only defeat at Newmarket last month but again he failed to find his mojo.
After finishing fifth, Aidan O’Brien, the colt’s trainer, said: “I don’t know really what happened.
“Maybe I ran him back a bit quick after Newmarket. Ryan (Moore) said he was a bit quiet in himself.
“We know what he is capable of but maybe I should have taken more time.”
Unlike O’Brien, who was licking his wounds, Brando made it a 1-2-3 for the British runners. Aclaim finished late to take second place with Tupi running an excellent race to be third.
This was a welcome victory for trainer Kevin Ryan after a spell in the wilderness due to an outbreak equine herpes.
“It’s a great day after the problems we’ve had,” said the Hambleton-based trainer.
“He ran a good race in the July Cup (the race he was third in ahead of Caravaggio in fourth).
“He got a great ride from Tom Eaves. He was exceptional today.
“We’ll look at Haydock (Sprint Cup, September 9) next.”
The Haydock race is also on the agenda for Harry Angel, the July Cup winner. Martyn Meade was thrilled with the performance from Aclaim, who was turning out just five days after finishing sixth in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood.
“It was a fantastic run and I’m very, very pleased,” said Meade.
“He was very unlucky in the Lennox. He didn’t have a hard race as he just got no run at all, which is why we decided to run him again.
“He was obviously in sparkling form today. I think a little bit more ease in the ground would have suited him better.
“We’ve just bumped into one too good on the day, but we were only beaten half a length and it was a great effort.”
Moore also had to settle for minors honours with the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Abingdon who was third in the Prix de Pomone won by Bateel, who was following up her Lancashire Oaks win for Francis-Henri Graffard.
At Galway, Brian Ellison made it a 1-2-3 in the Irish Stallion Farms Handicap when last year’s winner Dream Walker saw off stable companion Baraweez with Be Kool taking third place.
It was a fourth successive victory in the race for the Yorkshire trainer.
Baraweez won back-to-back renewals of the prize in 2014 and 2015 and was fifth behind Dream Walker 12 months ago.
“It’ll wreck my head thinking about what to do next year!” said Ellison. “Dream Walker just seems to come alive here. I honestly thought on better ground Baraweez would win.”