By Tom Frary
Alexander Tamagni-Bodmer and Regula Vannod's Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) had the obvious form claims for Sunday's G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville and all went to script for last year's G1 Coronation S. winner as she outbattled Half Light (Ire) (Shamardal) and Know It All (GB) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) for the win. Tracking Godolphin's Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) throughout the early stages, the 7-10 favourite got the split on the rail to edge ahead approaching the 300-metre marker and stayed on to score by 3/4 of a length from Half Light, who denied Know It All for second by a short head. “It was not easy today and we've been lucky the gap opened on the inside so we could save every inch of ground,” a relieved winning rider Pierre-Charles Boudot explained. “If I'd had to come around them, it might have been a very different outcome as she was struggling bit at the end. Maybe she needs further now.”
Watch Me came to the fore with success in the G3 Prix Imprudence over seven furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte last April and may have been unlucky when subsequently sixth in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp the following month. Taken to the G1 Coronation S. in a daring move which demonstrated the regard in which she was held by Francis-Henri Graffard, she justified that bravery by upsetting Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Royal Ascot feature before earning a break. Back with a fourth in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois over this track and trip in August, the chestnut was trying 10 furlongs for the first time when beaten just under a length in third in the G1 Prix de l'Opera back at ParisLongchamp on Arc day.
Finely-tuned for this with a win in the course-and-distance Listed Prix de la Calonne July 12, she may have been fortunate that the rail opened up when it did as Summer Romance tired quickly but there were no excuses in behind and it would be hard to argue that she was not the best on the day. “She deserved this–it's very hard to win two of these but she proved in the Opera in October that she was not finished,” Graffard commented. “She stays 10 furlongs, which gives her more options and we'll see how she comes out of this. She can run in the Jacques le Marois, the [G1] Jean Romanet or the Opera. Every time she has been beaten, she has had a sound excuse and it's a great credit to the team.”
Godolphin's Lisa-Jane Graffard said of the up-and-coming runner-up, who was stepping up off a win in the G3 Hamburger Stutenmeile, “Half Light produced another fantastic performance and we are thrilled with her. She never runs a bad race and it was excellent work by her trainer to bring her back from Germany and get her fresh and ready for this. We will see how she comes out of today before deciding where we go from here, but everything she has done so far has been brilliant. She is by Shamardal and from the family of Galileo and Sea the Stars, so she has really exciting breeding potential for Godolphin.”
The dam Watchful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is a half-sister to the group and grade 3-placed Rabi (Ire) (Alzao) and the G3 Coventry S.-placed Kawagino (Ire) (Perugino). The third dam Sharaya (Youth) landed the G1 Prix Vermeille and is also the ancestress of the G2 Centaur S. winner Sans Adieu (Jpn) (French Deputy), as well as of the listed scorer and G1 Nunthorpe S. runner-up Hamish McGonagall (GB) (Namid {GB}). Also connected to the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Shawanda (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) and the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and Vermeille heroine Shareta (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}), her 2-year-old colt by the same sire named Watch Him (Fr) (Elvstroem {Aus}) was bought by Amanda Skiffington for €100,000 at the Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale. Her yearling colt is again by Elvstroem.
Sunday, Deauville, France
PRIX ROTHSCHILD-G1, €180,000, Deauville, 8-2, 3yo/up, f/m, 8fT, 1:34.05, gd.
1–WATCH ME (FR), 130, f, 4, by Olympic Glory (Ire)
1st Dam: Watchful (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sharakawa (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Sharaya, by Youth
(€30,000 RNA Ylg '17 ARAUG). O-Alexander Tamagni & Mme Regula Vannod; B-Mme Antoinette Tamagni-Bodmer & Cocheese Bloodstock Anstalt (FR); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Pierre-Charles Boudot. €102,852. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 9-5-0-2, €625,144. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Half Light (Ire), 130, f, 4, Shamardal–Northern Melody (Ire), by Singspiel (Ire). O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Henri-Alex Pantall. €41,148.
3–Know It All (GB), 122, f, 3, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn)–Common Knowledge (GB), by Rainbow Quest. O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Qatar Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Johnny Murtagh. €20,574.
Margins: 3/4, SHD, 2. Odds: 0.70, 8.10, 12.00.
Also Ran: Speak of the Devil (Fr), Norma (GB), Summer Romance (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
