'She produces the same finish, whatever the trip' - Mqse De Sevigne has Arc in sights after repeat Rothschild success
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Mqse De Sevigne repeated her victory of 12 months ago in the race named for the family whose colours she carries, with a jubilant Alexis Pouchin standing up in the stirrups to salute Deauville's first holiday crowd of the summer season.
Trainer Andre Fabre had warned before the race that Mqse De Sevigne was not guaranteed to get things all her own way against specialist milers, having won her first Prix Rothschild by just a short head.
In the intervening year both she and Pouchin have racked up Group 1 successes but, with a likely career swansong in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over a mile and a half on the horizon, the daughter of Siyouni showed no lack of dash to beat Excellent Truth by a length, with Rogue Millennium getting the better of another Irish-trained filly Ocean Jewel in the race for third.
"Mqse De Sevigne progressed from three to four and now she is better again as a five-year-old," said her owner-breeder Edouard de Rothschild, who clearly took immense pleasure in sharing the success with his wife and son, as well as longtime ally Fabre. "She won more easily than last year. It's a family that improves with age."
Rothschild added: "It's obviously particularly dear to my heart that we've won this race which honours my forebears. This year she has the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as her main objective and she will prepare for that in the Prix Jean Romanet back at this track."
Mqse De Sevigne will thus be attempting the same double she achieved at Deauville last year, while her aptitude for a first crack at a mile and a half does not seem to be a concern to those who know her best. Coral cut her for the Arc to 20-1 (from 25).
Pouchin landed his first career Group 1 when Mqse De Sevigne scored on this day a year ago but his celebration was several notches above what we have seen from the quietly spoken 23-year-old in any of his previous big-race successes.
"Last year I was a bit taken by surprise and didn't quite realised what had happened," he said. "But I was very confident in her today after what she has shown this season and I knew exactly what we had achieved crossing the line."
"The advantage with her is that she has a great racing temperament and she knows how to ration her effort, whatever the pace of the race. She doesn't pull, she doesn't burn excess energy and so she produces the same finish in the last 400 metres, whatever the trip. It's a huge plus."
Excellent Truth produced a career best in second on her third run back at a mile and trainer Mauricio Delcher Sanchez will now continue stepping her back up, although the obvious next stop is the Romanet and another meeting with Mqse De Sevigne.
"That was a really good performance and she hasn't stolen second place by any means," said Delcher. "She even made up some ground on the winner near the end and I think she'll be even better over 2,000 metres, while she seems to love this track."
Blue Rose Cen again failed to make a major impact, picking up when the race developed in earnest but unable to close the leaders down and finishing last of the seven runners.
Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (3.00 Longchamp, October 6)
bet365: 7-2 Look De Vega, 8 City Of Troy, 10 Sotsie,14 Opera Singer, 16 Bluestocking, Economics, Mqse De Sevigne, 20 Delius, Los Angeles, White Birch, 22 Shin Emperor, 25 bar.
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