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Prix de Diane: The Race Where Ballerina's Become Stars.
The 2022 G1 Prix de Diane Longines (2100m) will take place at Chantilly on June 19. This French Classic has been won three times in the last five editions by foreign trainers. Can France reverse this recent trend? Let's focus on the stories of some of the French contenders : The revengeful Rosacea, Nadette and the family story of the Doleuze's and Beauté Cachée, a first classic runner for trainer Gael Barbedette...
Rosacea: Aiming to make up for the missed opportunity in the Poule d'Essai
Winner of the Prix des Réservoirs (G3) as a two-year-old and then Prix de la Grotte (G3) for her seasonal comeback, Rosacea was the one to look for in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1) [French Guineas]. But after a race alongside the rail at Paris-Longchamp, she couldn't find the space to secure a run and remained held-up. Finishing fourth place did not satisfy her entourage. She will run the Prix de Diane with some changes: a new jockey, Christophe Soumillon, who used to ride for connections Haras de la Perelle in the past, and introduce a pacemaker, Galla.
Her trainer Stéphane Wattel, based at the Deauville training center in Normandy, will take the filly to Chantilly, a racecourse where Rosacea has never raced. "Her last race was a disappointment, but she has worked very well leading up to Prix de Diane. She appears to be able to stay the distance. This is the "morning truth" and we'll have to see if she will prove herself in Prix de Diane. She is a very, maybe too much, generous filly. We always use a hood to keep her focused and she will have one until she enters the starting gates on Sunday. She had a great two-year-old season and improved to finish just behind the placegetters amongst the elite at three. I can't say she improved since the Poule d'Essai but she is definitely a classy filly".
Nadette: Keeping up the Doleuze Family Tradition
1979: this is the first year a Doleuze engraved his name in the Prix de Diane prize-winners. Georges Doleuze won the race with Dunette, the one and only win of this filly, who beat the future Arc Winner Three Troikas.
2000: Olivier Doleuze, son of Georges, won the race as jockey for the Wertheimer brothers with Egyptband, a filly trained by Criquette Head.
2022: Could it be the year of Olivier Le Dren-Doleuze, other son of Georges and trainer of Nadette, a name which phonetically echoes the one of Dunette, decades ago?
"Nadette is a story which should never have occurred, explained Romain Le Dren Doleuze. My first purchase for her owner Marco Saviozzi was not very good, but he gave me another chance two years later and we bought a two-year-old at the breeze up sale for 17 000€. Two weeks after she arrived at the stables, I saw that she had so much stamina, and was trying to unsaddle her morning rider displaying so much energy…she ran a canter along another two-year-old, much more experienced than her… and just beat him fair and square. So, she made her debut in August at Deauville, three weeks after her purchase. She finished second and was noticed by Team Valor which acquired 80% of the filly. After that, she won her maiden at Fontainebleau but was only fifth in the Prix des Reservoirs, the going was too heavy for her.
This year, she won easily on her seasonal comeback at Chantilly. That's when we decided to enter her in the Classics. In the Prix de la Grotte, she ran a very good race in what has been the best trial event this season for this generation and was fifth after putting in a good performance. We didn't race the French Guineas because we knew that she needed more than a mile race and she confirmed that intuition by winning Prix Finlande (Listed) over 1800 meters.
She's my first runner in the Prix de Diane and not the last, I hope! I have a very emotional link with this race because of the victories of my father and brother, but also because my late sister's name was Diane, being born a few weeks after Dunette's win. And above all, the race will be on Father's Day in France…
Nadette has everything asked of her for this race and we are very ambitious and serene: she will handle the distance and she is very adaptable, two qualities which can make the difference in a Group 1 race".
Beauté Cachée: A Classic Dream
Gael Barbedette is the trainer and one of the four co-owners of Beauté Cachée who will make the jump from a handicap race to the Prix de Diane. A huge grade rise but the filly makes her story sound like a fairytale. With ten races to date, Beauté Cachée is one of the most experienced fillies in the 2022 Prix de Diane, however she has won only one race and last start finished fifth in a handicap race. Her 50 000€ in winnings is a good return for a horse who had cost only 1 500€ when purchased at the 2020 Arqana Fall Yearlings, in a private sale.
"I bought Beauté Cachée at the sales, privately, for 1500 euros. I had her sister in training, who I loved her very much, but she had an accident. Beauté Cachée is a tribute name to this filly. The various co-owners of Beauté Cachée are my father, a friend and Valérie Lucas who had her in pre-training. She liked her but didn't dare tell me. When I offered her a share of a horse, she ended up telling me that she wanted to invest in the filly.
She is a filly who had a decent year as a two-year-old but was definitely not precocious. Luck favours the brave. I entered her in the classics for 2500 euros, which was more than her purchase price! It's been a bit more of a difficult year for my training. I have few horses to race and I'm having a blast with her.
Beauté Cachée is not the best runner in the Prix de Diane, but she is tough, and she has a lot of experience. She could climb the Chantilly hill well. A good draw will benefit us as we saw in the Prix du Jockey Club".