Brando leads British team home

3rd in the July Cup (Gr1), English raider Brando (Pivotal) kept going to score his 1st Gr1 victory on Sunday in the LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest (Gr1) on Deauville's 6 1/2 furlongs straight course. Trained by Kevin Ryan, Brando led an all English podium since both the 2nd-placed Aclaim (Acclamation) and third-placed Tupi (Tamayuz) also crossed the Channel to rally Deauville. Sprints, even extended to 1,300 meters, remain a very English specialty: 5 of the last 9 winners were trained there.
Favorites failed to make the frame as Signs of Blessing (Invincible Spirit), winner of the 2016 renewal, faded to finish fifth behind 4th-placed Magical Memory (Zebedee), also trained in Britain. The 3-year-old Caravaggio (Scat Daddy), who missed the start, American frequent flyer Bound For Nowhere (The Factor) and Fas (Fastnet Rock) were never a danger.
The second most important race of the day in Deauville, the Prix de Pomone (Gr3) Haras Firmamento, went to Bateel (Dubawi), trained by Francis Graffard in Chantilly who had just distinguished himself by winning... in England ! The 5yo mare held off Traffic Jam (Duke of Marmalade) after tracking the trainers by the rail with Pierre-Charles Boudot.

In the Prix de Reux (Gr3), two older horses prevailed as the leading Tiberian (Tiberius Caesar) bravely fought off Al Shaqab's Doha Dream (Shamardal), a faller in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Gr1). Trained by Alain Couétil for Julian Ince's Haras du Logis and Australian Thoroughbred, the Australia-bound winner also had had his share of mishaps in Saint-Cloud, and the trainer re-mapped his program towards Deauville rather than tackling the Brits at home at Glorious Goodwood.