French Racing News

Perfect Power handled the step up in grade on Sunday afternoon at Deauville when returning to winning ways and recording a third win from just five starts for UK trainer, Richard Fahey.  

The two-year-old son of Ardad broke evenly from the stalls, like the majority of the field where the strong pace was set by Quick Suzy and Have a Good Day on the stand side. Solotov and Khunan were the pair showing speed on the far side group. Christophe Soumillon allowed the colt to settle at the back of the group but only around six lengths off the lead.  

The Group One continued to be run at a strong pace with the winner sharing last position at the halfway point. However, the two-year-old caught the eye in the latter stages when making stealthy headway weaving through rivals to eventually challenge on the stand side. Both the first and second collided with and both looked to be at fault. The race seemed wide open with five or six together in one line with 300m left. It was not until the final 200m where both Perfect Power and Trident picked up, with both challenges proving strongest as they came storming home to overtake and snatch the top two positions. Particularly eye-catching was the winner drawing further clear in the final strides to be a one and a quarter length winner.   

Perfect Power has been busy in recent months after placing on debut at the end of May at Newcastle (UK) on the all-weather before notable progress to win his next two outings, one in maiden company and the other, the G2 Norfolk Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot (UK) in mid-June. He was disappointing at Goodwood (UK) when fifth in the G2 Richmond Stakes (1200m) though wasn't beaten all that far against reopposing rivals on that occasion only to now bounce back to winning form at Deauville. 

The stallion, Ardad (Kodiac) recorded his first top-level success as a sire in this race which has boosted his first season having already sired sixteen individual winners and stands at Overbury Stud for a fee of £4,000. Ardad was also a classy performer in the sprinting division with one highlight being a victory in the G2 Flying Childers Stakes (1000m) at Doncaster (UK) in 2016.  

Grand Glory and Audarya produced a grandstand finish in what was a great battle with the former just nosing ahead when it mattered gaining a sixth career success. This follows up her Vichy triumph and gives a notable boost to the G3 Grand Prix de Vichy (2000m) form [a Group race run on turf under floodlights].   

There was an even break from the stalls with Ebaiyra quickly taking up the running whilst the winner was settled at the rear of the field sharing last place. The pace looked decent for the trip and field size as they raced off the inside rail (note, the running rail was well out from the true position) to try and find the best ground which jockeys believed to be in the centre of the back straight.  

The Gianluca Bietolini trained mare was only six lengths behind the leader at the half-way stage as they negotiated the right-handed turn. With 600m to run, Grand Glory caught the eye making gradual progress on the outside as the group bunched up entering the home straight.  

All eight runners had a chance with 500m left but the excellent tactics employed by Cristian Demuro who had the stand side in mind grabbed that position early and was allowed an easy and clear finishing effort to sweep past rivals and continued to make ground. 

Inside the final 200m, Grand Glory and last years' race victor Audarya fought out the finish in a great battle. The latter was still ahead with 50m left however the final push from Cristian Demuro on Grand Glory produced the biggest stride managing to seal the prize by a short head.  

This was the second Group One success for Olympic Glory (Choisir) who currently stands at Haras de Bouquetot in France for a €5,000. The stallion was shuttled to Arrowfield Stud (Australia) for three seasons in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and holds nine individual Black type winners.  

Grand Glory is a two-time Group Three winner and is one of four winners out of Madonna Lily (Daylami), who is a half-sister to Minakshi, successful in Group Two company.