There were three Grade I races on the grass for fillies and mares in North America Saturday; to the surprise of no one, Chad Brown-trained and Peter Brant-owned mares took center stage, following up In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})'s win in Keeneland's GI First Lady S. with a mild upset by Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) in the GI E. P. Taylor S. at Woodbine. Michael Tabor partners with Brant in Rougir, a Group 1 winner in France and a GSW in the U.S. Heavy even-money favorite Moira (Ghostzapper), winner of the Queen's Plate over the boys Aug. 21, finished a hard-fought second in her first try on the lawn, only to be disqualified to eighth for interference in the stretch. Flirting Bridge (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) was promoted to second.
Rougir, on first-time Lasix, raced on the inside, closer to the back than the front through a first quarter in :26.78 as Adventuring (Pioneerof the Nile) showed the way. Little had changed by the :51.39 half, but plenty was to come. Trying to go through a hole between horses, Rougir was checked dramatically back to second last when the daylight appeared to close abruptly. Behind a wall of horses in the stretch, she looked to have no chance but the long run to the wire at Woodbine worked to her advantage as she suddenly came into serious contention with a sustained flying finish. With four contenders still in front of her with a sixteenth to go, Rougir closed down the middle of the course in a fighting finish, just getting up by a neck over Moira at the post, with the latter–on the rail–a head in front of Flirting Bridge.
“I had been struggling because this horse had moved me up so sharply that I had to pick a pathway,” said winning rider Kazushi Kimura. “So, when she comes from the corner it was tremendous, I was trying so hard. I was so confident, but those horses already had experience from the long stretch.”
While there was no doubt about the winner, Lemista (Ire) (Raven's Pass)'s connections claimed interference against Moira for the stretch run due to an incident where she clearly came over when diving to the inside while in tight. A stewards' inquiry and rider's objection resulted in that filly's disqualification to the spot behind Lemistra's seventh-place finish. Moira, who had demolished the Queen's Plate field, was making her first start against older horses.
Last seen finishing fifth in the Aug. 13 GI Beverly D. S. at Churchill Downs, her third straight off-the-board finish in a Grade I event, Rougir kicked off 2022 with a win in Belmont's GIII Beaugay S. May 14 in her first start for the Brown barn. She had previously been trained by Cedric Rossi in France for the Le Haras de La Gousserie outfit, for whom she won the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines and the G3 Prix des Reservoirs, in addition to placings in the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches, G2 Prix de la Nonette, and the G3 Prix Chloe. In her final start for her French connections, she was seventh after a tough trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar. Rougir was sent back to France, topping Arqana's December Breeding Stock sale at €3 million and subsequently moving to Brown's shedrow.
Pedigree Notes:
Dalham Hall Stud's Territories (Ire) is the sire of Rougir, who is a member of his first crop, and is responsible for six total black-type winners worldwide. In addition to Rougir, Hoo Ya Mal (GB) also flies the group/grade banner for the Invincible Spirit (Ire) stallion with a Group 3 win this year in addition to a runner-up finish in the G1 Cazoo Derby.
Summer Moon was black-type placed in France for Jean-Claude Rouget, then shipped stateside to Chad Brown's barn for one start in 2015 before she was retired and kept in the U.S. for her first two covers. Shipped back across the pond again, she has since switched hands a couple of times, most recently at Arqana December in 2019 for €15,000 to Genovaa. The mare, who has several generations of Aga Khan breeding behind her, has a 2-year-old filly named Rosir (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}) as her last reported foal. That one sold at Arqana's October yearling sale last year for €100,000 to Paul Nataf. Rougir is one of 24 black-type winners out of daughters of Elusive City, a Group 1 winner nearly two decades ago for Elusive Quality.
Saturday, Woodbine
E. P. TAYLOR S.-GI, C$751,900, Woodbine, 10-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:02.62, fm.
1–ROUGIR (FR), 124, f, 4, by Territories (Ire)
1st Dam: Summer Moon (Fr) (SP-Fr), by Elusive City
2nd Dam: Kalatuna (Fr), by Green Tune
3rd Dam: Kalasinger, by Chief Singer (Ire)
(€11,000 Wlg '18 ARQDE; €55,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG;
€3,000,000 3yo '21 ARQDEC). O-Peter M. Brant & Michael B.
Tabor; B-Jan Krauze (FR); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Kazushi Kimura.
C$450,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr, 19-6-1-3, $1,037,824.
Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Flirting Bridge (Ire), 124, f, 4, by Camelot (GB)
1st Dam: Rachevie (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Challow Hills, by Woodman
3rd Dam: Cascassi, by Nijinsky II
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (€30,000 Wlg '18 GOFNOV; €55,000 Ylg
'19 GOFSPT). O-John Halley & Ciara Hogan; B-T. O'Dwyer & O'Brien (Ire); T-Brendan P. Walsh. C$150,000.
3–Fev Rover (Ire), 124, f, 4, by Gutaifan (Ire)
1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy
Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Mark E. Casse.
C$75,000.
Margins: NK, 1, HF. Odds: 5.30, 8.75, 9.45.
Also Ran: Adventuring, Mylady (Ger), Henrietta Topham, Lemista (Ire), Moira, Munnyfor Ro.
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