‘He’s Really Coming Back Now’: Graffard Seeking to Cap Sensational Year with First Breeders’ Cup Win

[Wandering Eyes]

DEL MAR, USA — From the shock win of Arcangues in the 1993 Classic through the great Goldikova and Six Perfections to Talismanic, French-trained horses have left their mark on the Breeders' Cup roll of honour and it will be no surprise to see that list extended this year.

Only one French trainer is here in Del Mar but he is the one who is making his own indelible mark on his country's racing scene. Francis Graffard will be champion trainer in his home country this year for the first time, but his success has not been restricted to France during his annus mirabilis. 

Calandagan's dual Group 1 strikes in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes, and the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden win for Goliath have augmented the victories of Daryz in the the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Sahlan's Prix du Moulin and the Classic successes of Zarigana and Gezora among a raft of stakes wins this year. Three of that group have travelled to California with the trainer and give Graffard “three good chances” to add a Breeders' Cup win to his rapidly expanding list of accomplishments. 

“They seem to have travelled really well. Everyone seems to have put their weight back on, which is a very good sign,” said Graffard on Wednesday morning after watching Goliath, Gezora and Sahlan on the main track. He also runs Temptable in the GIII Goldikova Stakes on the Breeders' Cup undercard.

“Sahlan was much more relaxed this morning, and I think he looked fantastic. I've always loved him. Things didn't go his way at the beginning of the year. A mile is really the maximum trip for him, so he got caught on the line in the trial [the Prix de Fontainebleau]. Then the French Guineas was a non-event. And he was sick when he ran in the Listed race [Prix de Saint Patrick]. So I was very disappointed with that one, but after that he came back to what I was hoping he was.”

That comeback began with victory in the G3 Prix Daphnis on August 10 before his Group 1 breakthrough in the Prix du Moulin, in which Sahlan had fellow Breeders' Cup Mile contender The Lion In Winter half a length behind him in third.

 

Breeders' Cup Mile contender Sahlan | Emma Berry

 

“I didn't want to run him again after the Moulin, because I was trying to avoid soft ground with him in Europe, so I targeted this race,” Graffard added. “He has a good draw [three]. I just hope he can jump well. He's a horse with a very strong turn of foot, so I need a lot of luck.”

The trainer blames himself for sending his previous year's King George winner Goliath to Hong Kong in April, where he ran ninth of 11 in the G1 FWD QEII Cup. The gelding, owned by Resolute Racing in partnership with Goliath's breeder Philip von Ullmann, has however added two more wins to his record this season, and Graffard says that he is encouraged by the five-year-old's condition on his arrival at Del Mar ahead of lining up against Minnie Hauk and Rebel's Romance in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

“I made a big mistake to send him to Hong Kong at the beginning of the year. The horse was not fine mentally, so he had a very hard race there. I really struggled to get him back,” he said.

“He was sick at the same time as Sahlan when he ran the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. That's why he ran really poorly that day. But I couldn't be happier with him now. I think he's back to his best mentally. He travelled really well. I'm really happy. I think in Germany, he was not 100 per cent yet mentally and physically, but he's really coming back again. At the beginning, I thought it was a little bit hard to bring him over here, but now I have no regrets.”

The one concern in Graffard's mind on Wednesday morning was how the on-course veterinary team at Del Mar will react to Goliath and his extraordinary gait caused by the neuromuscular condition of stringhalt.

“I just hope they let him run,” he said, adding that he would love the faster conditions he is likely to encounter in the Turf. Mickael Barzalona, whose one previous Breeders' Cup win came in the 2017 Turf aboard Talismanic, is booked to ride Goliath for the first time, and will partner all four Graffard runners on Saturday.

“For him, it all depends on him being nice and relaxed during the race. Mickael Barzalona galloped him last week. It's just a question of we don't touch anything – let him do what he wants. Every time we try to tell him to do something, he has got upset and has run poorly. But every time we let him do it in his own bubble, he has won.”

 

Goliath, left, with Francis Graffard, right | Emma Berry

 

Graffard also has a strong contender for the last race of the meeting, the Filly & Mare Turf, in Gezora, who was bought by Peter Brant from her breeder Haras d'Etreham at the end of her juvenile season and transferred from her initial trainer Nicolas Le Roch. The winner of the G2 Prix Saint-Alary prior to her G1 Prix de Diane victory, the only blot on Gezora's consistent record this year was finishing thirteenth in the Arc.

“She didn't have a hard race in the Arc because she was really far back and she made a move, but it was a little bit of an uneven for her,” he said.

The neat, light-framed daughter of Almanzor is likely now to remain in America to join Brant's strong team of turf runners in his home country.

Graffard added, “She lost a little bit of weight during the journey, but she put everything back on again. She's a very straightforward filly and she has a good draw. I hope she should be able to perform well.”

Graffard had his first taste of the Breeders' Cup back in 2016 with Karar in the Turf Sprint, and he has come closest in five attempts to date with Malavath, who was second in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“It's a meeting I really love,” he said. “I have some very nice horses here with me. The job is done. I'm very pleased with my team here: they have done a good job. The horses look great. The team is happy, so fingers crossed we have a bit of luck.”

 

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