By Chris McGrath
The kinship between the first British and French Classics, already enhanced this year by the transfer of the latter to a straight mile at Deauville, could yet extend to a set of winning silks. Certainly Sheikh Joaan and his team at Al Shaqab Racing are optimistic that the example of Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) in the 2000 Guineas can be emulated by one of their runners on Sunday–notably by Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), whose remarkable performance in her trial qualifies her as one of the favourites for the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.
On her first start since finishing strongly for third in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac last October, Qemah seemed far too fresh in the early stages of the G3 Prix de la Grotte at Chantilly last month. Still fighting Gregory Benoist even as some of her rivals were coming off the bridle in the straight, she seemed doomed to flatten out at the business end. Instead, she not only accelerated into the lead, but crossed the line full of vitality, 2 1/2-lengths clear of a race-fit rival. Harry Herbert, racing manager to Al Shaqab, said he could hardly believe what he had seen. “Earlier in the race I'd been cursing,” he admits. “She was climbing in behind fillies and, when they're that free, normally you won't see them finish off their races.”
Herbert continued, “But she just bounded clear of some very nice fillies, under hands and heels. Jean-Claude Rouget had been very bullish about her, always has been, and as Gregory said afterwards: 'Harry, she really won this very easily indeed–she's the real deal.'”
Rouget trains Qemah in Pau, and Herbert concedes that the filly may have entered the race with a corresponding advantage. “Based where she is, down in the south west, she was much brighter in her skin and more forward than some of the other fillies,” he says. “There were a number behind that I'm sure will improve for the run. But the manner in which she won, after being so free early, was really impressive. We'll see, but she's all set. Personally, I wouldn't want it too soft, just because you don't want to see that terrific turn of foot blunted.”
In theory, the race's switch to Deauville from the twists and turns of Longchamp could expose any ingrained reluctance to settle in the filly, but Herbert is confident that all gassiness will be out of her system now. “She was just fresh,” he says. “I'd definitely expect her to be more settled, and they won't hang around. If you look at her run on Arc day, she was just slightly back and wide: there was a bit of greenness to her, a bit of immaturity generally. She's a very different filly to look at now, having wintered particularly well. She's typical of Danehill Dancer: a bit of length about her, a fantastic head and outlook. She's a real beauty.”
Qemah, a €200,000 Arqana yearling, is out of a Rainbow Quest mare, but Herbert reveals that Rouget is already inclined to target the G1 Coronation S. rather than step up in trip for the G1 Prix de Diane. “After the race Jean-Claude said, 'Whatever happens in the Pouliches, I want to take this filly to Royal Ascot.' On that pedigree you'd say there was a potential Diane scenario, but he has no shortage of faith in her speed, in her ability to quicken off any pace, which can hopefully be a lethal weapon for her.”
Rouget also saddles an intriguing Al Shaqab contender for the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains in Zelzal (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Unraced at two, and another Arqana graduate at €180,000, he has had to compress his education into two runs this spring over a synthetic surface, at Deauville and then Chantilly. “He was very impressive in both, and he's an exciting colt,” Herbert says. “Obviously he hasn't run on turf yet, so that'll be interesting, and he might lack a bit of experience. I suppose he might have gone a different route, towards the Prix du Jockey Club, but Sheikh Joaan is very keen that he takes his chance and that's fair enough: I don't know what he's beaten particularly, but certainly on his homework he's been very impressive. And he'll learn a lot, whatever happens. Interestingly, we've got two or three really nice colts by the sire this year, and though they're neat, attractive horses, they still need time.”
One of these is Al Haram (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), bought the same day as Qemah for €400,000 and a winner at Saint-Cloud this spring for Elie Lellouche before finishing a close third in a listed race in Lyon last week. “He was still green, in a small field, and I suspect that if you ran the race again he might win it,” Herbert says. “He's a very attractive, useful horse who'll probably be kept to a mile and a quarter for the moment, as he has no shortage of speed.”
If Zelzal is pressing on, another 3-year-old to have emerged this spring is likely to be given a breather now. Heshem (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) has won two races on the synthetic track at Chantilly for Christophe Ferland since making his debut at Saint-Cloud in March, looking potentially well bought at Arqana for €85,000. “He's a very nice horse and was impressive in his last race,” Herbert says. “But he's now had three races quite quickly, so I don't think there's a massive rush to bring him back into the fray. Physically, he's a really important horse to look at, with a lovely pedigree. I do think he's very decent but we probably ought to let the dust settle a bit before regrouping.”
Herbert was talking after a tour last weekend of Al Shaqab's trainers in Chantilly. Having expanded to an even split of around 100 horses either side of the Channel, along with a dozen or so in the U.S., the operation's French arm has had a particularly prolific spring. “We've had a fantastic start to the season there,” Herbert says. “The strike-rate is incredible, 30-plus per cent, and some lovely horses have been well-placed by their trainers to win good prize money. At the moment, in fact, Al Shaqab is top of the owners' table in France.”
And already there are signs that the next wave of talent is gathering momentum. At Maisons-Laffitte last week, Henri Devin saddled a homebred juvenile named Al Johrah (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) to give her rookie sire his first success. “She's a lovely filly,” Herbert reports. “I saw her on Monday and she's no shrinking violet. She's got a bit of size and substance to her. If she can go on and win again, then I think the Queen Mary might be on the cards.”
But it is back to Britain that eyes will increasingly be drawn, looking down the pedigrees of Al Shaqab's youngsters–to a son of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) out of Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}). His innate glamour, sufficient to secure a 750,000gns tag in Tattersalls Book One last autumn, has now been burnished by the explosive rise of his unbeaten half-sister So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), second favourite for the G1 Investec Oaks after her four-length romp at York on Wednesday. That filly's trainer, John Gosden, has also taken the Frankel colt into his care.
“He's an absolute beauty, a corker of a 2-year-old,” Herbert enthuses. “He has only fairly recently gone to John from Malcolm Bastard at Lambourn, who said to me early on: 'I think this is very special.' The horse is changing and growing, he has proper size and scope about him, so it's exciting that he has caught Malcolm's eye early on. He has been incredibly accurate about these things in the past. All the horses he has mentioned in dispatches have tended to go on and be pretty useful–and I've never heard him talk about one quite like this.”
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