€80,000 Barrière Quincey (Gr3): Soumillon's Poker Face does the trick

Sunday, 27th August 2023, Deauville La Touques Racecourse (Calvados) - Favourite and frontrunner in the €80,000 Barrière Prix Quincey (Gr3) straight mile, the British raider Poker Face (Fastnet Rock) initially set a moderate pace before quickening as he secured the inside rail on the home straight. He then created a gap that, despite their strong finishes, Gregarina (De Treville) and The Revenant (Dubawi) couldn't close, finishing in that order, less than a length behind.

Representing Edward Hare and ridden by Christophe Soumillon, Poker Face was unbeaten in three outings as a 3-year-old. With the exception of a 14th place at Royal Ascot, he has been in the frame in every start this year and recently returned to winning ways in a Listed event over the same mile at Pontefract, where he once again bested the other English horse in the Deauville field, fourth-place finisher Raadobarg (Night of Thunder).

Purchased for £95,000 at the Tattersalls yearling sales, Poker Face comes from a Lagardère-bred family, with the breeder responsible for the winner's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th dams. Miarixa, the second dam, was sold unraced at 3 years old by Haras d'Ouilly for £55,000 and later produced the champion Blue Bunting (Dynaformer), winner of the One Thousand Guineas, the Irish Oaks, and the Yorkshire Oaks.

Poker Face's own sister will be offered for sale in Newmarket this coming October.