Due to lengthy delays at the Eurotunnel, it took Saffron Beach and her trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam a gruelling 12 hours to make the trip from British horse racing’s HQ Newmarket to the picturesque seaside town of Deauville in Normandy region of northwest France.
The six-hour wait to board the train across the English Channel didn’t seem to have any kind of adverse effect on the four-year-old though, as she cruised home in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild — proofing why she was the heavily-backed favourite in the racing odds and is considered one of the best fillies on the plant right now.
Some thought that the Aidan O’Brien-trained Tenebrism, who had Ballydoyle’s number one rider Ryan Moore in the saddle, could prove to be a thorn in the side of Saffron Beach.
Instead, it was a cool ride from Godolphin’s William Buick, as the pair made virtually all the running before running on well and asserting themselves firmly in the final furlong to win by over two lengths clear of O’Brien’s runner.
It begs the question, what is next for this fine filly? A victory in the Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in June got her back to winning ways after a trip to Meydan in March ended in a fourth-place finish in the prestigious Dubai Turf and after adding a second Group 1 success to her résumé in France, there’s a lot of excitement surrounding this horse as the end of season highlights approach.
While the Rothschild was just her third race of the season, it has still been a long campaign for the four-year-old when you consider that she made that long journey to the Middle East about six months ago, but she does hold a few entries back in the United Kingdom and Ireland — with the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown, the Newmarket Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October all possible landing spots.
It is, of course, incredibly likely that Saffron Beach will only feature in one of those contests, and looking at the ante-post markets, the Group 1 Sun Chariot at Newmarket on October 1st — where she fancied as a 5/2 shot — is arguably the most probable, but that is not the ultimate goal of the horse’s connections before the season is wrapped up.
After the victory in Deauville, Chapple-Hyam confirmed that the four-year-old is being targeted at the United States’ mega-money meeting the Breeders’ Cup — with entries in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, which she has been cut to 8/1 to win, and the Breeders’ Cup Mile — before being sent to stud.
“The plan was, if we could get her to the Breeders’ Cup and work backwards,” said Chapple-Hyam. “She’s in the Matron at Leopardstown and the Sun Chariot at Newmarket,”.
“It’s been a long season for her starting in Dubai in March but she does get those breaks in between and she does get turned out and enjoy some grass. But I expect she’ll go to stud at the end of the year; she’s earned it.
“I think we’ll nominate her in both and see what the competition is,” said Chapple Hyam. “Knowing the owners, they’ll probably want to stick to the Filly & Mare, but you can nominate in both and have a look.”
It would be great if Saffron Beach could go out of the US and get a big victory at the Breeders’ Cup before heading off to a life in stud.