By Tom Frary
Now that Carlos Laffon-Parias has his trip right, SARL Darpat's Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper) is a force to be reckoned with and was able to build on his return success in Saint-Cloud's G2 Prix du Muguet over a mile at the start of the month to garner Sunday's G1 Churchill Coolmore Prix d'Ispahan at ParisLongchamp. Tackling another 300 metres here, last year's G1 Prix du Jockey Club third was confidently anchored in last early by Olivier Peslier eight lengths off his useful pacemaker Oriental (Jpn) (Smart Strike). Sent up the inner turning for home, the 4-5 favourite showed the acceleration that differentiates a group 1 horse from the rest to cut down the British raider Almodovar (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) passing the furlong pole en route to a 1 3/4-length success.
Recoletos's trainer is looking at taking on Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the June 19 G1 Queen Anne S. now. “It was not the plan to be held up in last place, but he broke slowly which he can do once in a while,” Laffon-Parias explained. “We had a good pacemaker and a top-class jockey. There is no stress when Olivier Peslier is in the saddle, because he never panics. We've won so many top-class races together and my career owes him so much. He gets older, but is always at the top of his game so why change a winning partnership? Running here was the logical step after winning the Muguet, but we will now revert to a mile and go to the Queen Anne S.”
Following his prior group wins in the Muguet, G2 Prix Greffulhe and G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange, Recoletos is out of the unraced Highphar (Fr) (Highest Honor {Fr}) whose 3-year-old filly Castellar (Fr) (American Post {GB}) took the G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud for the same connections on Monday. They share their GII Garden City Breeders' Cup H.-winning second dam Pharatta (Ire) (Fairy King) with the G3 Premio Verziere scorer Cartaya (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), while Pharatta is kin to the G2 Premio Ribot and G2 Grosser Preis von Dusseldorf-winning sire Crimson Tide (Ire) and two other useful performers in Tamarind (Ire) and Arosa (Ire) all by Sadler's Wells. The third dam Shademah (Ire) (Thatch) is a half-sister to the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud hero Shakapour (Ire) (Kalamoun {GB}) and is also the dam of the G1 English and Irish Derby hero Shahrastani (Nijinsky II). Highphar's 2-year-old is a full-sister to Recoletos named Villalar (Fr).
Sunday, Longchamp, France
CHURCHILL COOLMORE PRIX D'ISPAHAN-G1, €250,000, ParisLongchamp, 5-27, 4yo/up, 9f 55yT, 1:52.80, g/s.
1–RECOLETOS (FR), 128, c, 4, by Whipper
1st Dam: Highphar (Fr), by Highest Honor (Fr)
2nd Dam: Pharatta (Ire), by Fairy King
3rd Dam: Sharata (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O/B-SARL Darpat France (FR); T-Carlos Laffon-Parias; J-Olivier Peslier. €142,850. Lifetime Record: 10-6-0-1, €612,833. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”frbc-trained-at-chantilly-2018″]2–Almodovar (Ire), 128, g, 6, Sea the Stars (Ire)–Melodramatic (Ire), by Sadler's Wells. O/B-Bjorn Nielsen (IRE); T-Roger Charlton. €57,150.
3–Trais Fluors (GB), 128, c, 4, Dansili (GB)–Trois Lunes (Fr), by Manduro (Ger). O/B-Haras de Saint Pair (GB); T-Andre Fabre. €28,575.
Margins: 1 3/4, 2, 1GF. Odds: 0.80, 5.50, 6.60.
Also Ran: Taareef, Wild Chief (Ger), Oriental (Jpn). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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