Connections of Ramatuelle are targeting an autumn campaign with the daughter of Justify after she finished third in the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, deciding against a tilt at the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on Sunday.
Trained by Christopher Head, Ramatuelle won the G2 Prix Robert Papin as a two-year-old and has since finished placed at the top level on three occasions. Runner-up to Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) in last year's Prix Morny at Deauville, she preceded her Royal Ascot effort with another third-place finish in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
The three-year-old is now set to drop back to seven furlongs when she makes her next intended appearance in the G1 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Sunday, October 6, with an outing at the Breeders' Cup also on the agenda for later in the year.
“The owners want to respect her and make the best programme ever for her,” said Head. “We are going to wait for the Prix de la Foret and then the Breeders' Cup. That's the idea [to drop her back to seven furlongs] and obviously the Breeders' Cup at the end of the season on the mile is pretty much going to suit her profile.
“I think it is the best bet we can get with her for the season. She is full of speed and the mile might be a bit tricky for her at the end. So, everything says she's better at that type of distance.”
The Adrian Murray-trained Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will be another absentee from Sunday's Prix Jean Prat, having failed to recover in time from the setback which ruled him out of Royal Ascot.
A Group 1 winner as a juvenile when landing the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, Bucanero Fuerte was last seen winning the G3 Lacken Stakes on his first start of the campaign at Naas in May, with signs of travel sickness forcing him to miss Ascot when he was among the favourites for the G1 Commonwealth Cup.
“We're thinking of the July Cup at Newmarket,” Murray said of future plans for the colt. “He won't be ready for France [Prix Jean Prat]. We're aiming for Newmarket but whether we will have him ready in time, I don't know.
“He will have lost a good bit of weight and we're having to build him back up. We're hoping to have him there, but there's no guarantee. We have a lot of options for him if we don't get him to Newmarket.”
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