By Tom Frary
Providing a welcome winner for The Aga Khan Studs on the Deauville card they sponsored in its entirety, Rayif (Sea The Moon) lit up the G3 Prix Francois Boutin with a display that shouted Classic potential. A narrow winner over six furlongs here last month, the half-brother to the Commonwealth Cup third Rayevka brushed aside Ballydoyle's 7-10 favourite Daytona (Wootton Bassett) with a furlong remaining and surged to the line for a 2 1/2-length success. The Coventry fourth Andab (Saxon Warrior) denied Daytona second by a head.
“I thought he did it very convincingly and his half-sister is very good and very fast, so we seem to be bringing out the speed of that family,” Princess Zahra Aga Khan said of the exciting Francis-Henri Graffard trainee. “He was still very green today and we can hope that he might run in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.”
Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard added, “This was a step up, as it was a tough line-up, but he was rather extraordinary. He will surely aim for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, but I don't want to get bogged down in ground too soft.”
Impressive!
Rayif is a half-brother to classy sprinter Rayevka and wins the Group Three @AgaKhanStuds Prix Francois Boutin in emphatic fashion! 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/T9NPVmGRBp
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) August 17, 2025
Pedigree Notes
Rayif, who becomes the 20th Group winner for his sire, is out of the Listed-placed Rayisa (Holy Roman
Emperor) whose aforementioned three-year-old filly Rayevka (Blue Point) has already established herself as a top-level sprinter. She is kin to the G3 Athasi Stakes winner Rehana (Dark Angel), who was also placed in the G2 Cape Verdi, while the third dam Rayyana (Rainbow Quest) was responsible for the G3 Killavullan Stakes winner and G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up Rayeni (Indian Ridge). Also connected to last year's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Rouhiya (Lope De Vega), Rayisa's colt foal is by Vadeni.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
