By Tom Frary
Britain's clean sweep of Deauville's valuable juvenile Arqana Series races was completed in style on Thursday by Valmont's Cape Orator (Mohaather) in the 6 1/2-furlong Criterium d'Ete. Off the mark for the Ralph Beckett stable at Kempton in June, the 15-1 shot cut loose approaching the final furlong and surged to a 3 1/2-length verdict over Street Show (Showcasing), the only French-trained two-year-old to make the first two in the trio of sales races.
“We've always thought he was a very good horse, it's just taken a long time for him to mature,” jockey Hector Crouch said.
Cape Orator is the fourth of four known foals out of the dam, with one of them being the G3 Prix de la Grotte runner-up Minoushka (Starspangledbanner). She is a daughter of the G2 German 1,000 Guineas-placed Turning Leaf (Last Tycoon), who produced the German Group 3 winner and stakes producer Turning Light (Fantastic Light) and who is also the second dam of the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin winner and G1 Preis der Diana-placed Noble Heidi (Intello).
ARQANA SERIES – CRITERIUM D'ETE (Cond), €260,000, Deauville, 8-14, 2yo, 6 1/2fT, 1:17.03, sf.
1–CAPE ORATOR (IRE), 127, c, 2, by Mohaather (GB)
1st Dam: Mouille Point (GB), by Motivator (GB)
2nd Dam: Turning Leaf (Ire), by Last Tycoon (Ire)
3rd Dam: Tamacana (GB), by Windwurf (Ger)
(€280,000 Ylg '24 ARQOCT). O-Valmont; B-SAS Le Thenney –
Pearl Champs Elysses; T-Ralph Beckett; J-Hector Crouch.
€130,000. Lifetime Record: €137,164. *1/2 to Minoushka
(Starspangledbanner), GSP-Fr, $179,010.
2–Street Show (Fr), 127, c, 2, Showcasing (GB)–Vivid Dream
(Ire), by Dream Ahead. (€170,000 Ylg '24 ARQOCT). O-Magne
Jordanger & Finn Blichfeldt; B-Haras du Mont Dit Mont; T-Pia
& Joakim Brandt. €49,400.
3–Go Man (Fr), 127, c, 2, Goken (Fr)–Lady Lilnoi (GB), by Night
Of Thunder (Ire). (€15,000 Ylg '24 ARQAUG). O-Christian
Faure, J M Lefebvre, Osman Nuri Calik, Richard Chotard, Serge
Tardy & Serge Mayan; B-Baudron (S) & Guy Pariente Holding;
T-Richard Chotard. €36,400.
Margins: 3HF, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 15.80, 23.00, 37.00.
Also Ran: New Vega (GB), Flying Comet (GB), No Remorse (Fr), Pistoia (Ire), Mai Dire Mai (Fr), Underwriter (Fr), Miss De Paname (Fr), The Best Glory (Fr), Waramini (Ire), Trinquette (Fr), Bankhovski (FR). Scratched: Siciliano (Fr), Stimulative Trip (Fr).
🏅 Cape Orator (H. Crouch – @RalphBeckett) avec la manière dans les @InfoArqana Series – Criterium d'Été
À noter qu'il est le frère utérin de Minoushka (@CYLerner), deuxième du Prix de la Grotte (Gr. 3) en 2024 pic.twitter.com/xART7iujSB
— Equidia (@equidia) August 14, 2025
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