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Olympic Glory mare lands Prix Rothschild
Watch Me (4 m ex Watchful by Galileo) - who is a daughter of former Arrowfield Stud shuttler Olympic Glory (Choisir) - added a second Group 1 to her record when she landed the Prix Rothschild (Gr 1, 1600m) at Deauville on Sunday.
Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, the four-year-old’s first win at elite level came in the Coronation Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) last year and she made her seasonal debut this year when taking out the Prix de la Calonne (Listed, 1600m).
As the field entered the final stages, Watch Me looked to have a lot of work to do, but when she found a gap up the standside rail, she flew home to beat Half Light (Shamardal) by three-quarters of a length with another short-head back to Know It All (Lord Kanaloa) in third.
"She deserved a second win in a Group 1 race. She's a very talented filly and a Group 1 is very hard to win, so I'm very happy for the filly,” said Graffard.
"It's always very hard to keep a filly of that level in training but we gave her plenty of time and she really came on a lot for her race three weeks ago and confirmed that today.
"We'll see how she comes out of the race and find another race for her."
Watch Me is one of three winners out of dual winning Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Watchful, who was purchased carrying the mare in utero by Cocheese Bloodstock for €22,000 at the 2015 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale.
The mare’s third dam is Prix Vermeille (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Sharaya (Youth), who is herself the grandam of Listed winner and Group 1-placed Hamish McGonagall (Namid) and Japanese Grade 2 winner Sans Adieu (French Deputy).
Olympic Glory - who is the sire of four stakes winners - shuttled to Arrowfield Stud in the Hunter Valley for three seasons and he now resides exclusively at Haras de Bouquetot where his fee in 2020 was advertised as €10,000.