By Duane Fonseca
Roger Varian’s British raider Charyn added a second-straight top-level success to his resume when winning the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Sunday.
Winner of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on his last start, the four-year-old Dark Angel colt always held a handy position under Silvestre De Sousa, doing his running in the shadow of the pacesetting Big Rock, trained by Maurizio Guarnieri and ridden by Cristian Demuro.
By the half-way mark as Big Rock started to tire, Demuro put his mount under a ride. It merely amounted to ensuring the French-trained horse finished fifth as Charyn and the rest of the pack closed in rapidly. John & Thady Gosdens’ Inspiral, the ride of Ryan Moore, was second late out of the gate, but managed to catch up with the pack and tried to make a bid, but was pipped on the line for second with Metropolitan (Mario Baratti/Alexis Pouchin) sneaking ahead late.
As far as Charyn was concerned De Sousa had got him to kick clear and clear he went, pulling away to finish with three to spare.
“It was rather a comfortable watch, I'm looking forward to seeing it again. He's a great horse, he seems to be getting better and better,” said Varian.
“I don't know what to say. He makes me cry this horse, he's such a beautiful horse. You don't always know where you are with him, he's very laidback at home, he carries a lot of condition. Most times I've sent him to the races I wonder if I've done enough with him.
“He carries a good middle but he's a great mind, he's very relaxed and makes my job easy. Silvestre is striking up a good relationship with him. I'm delighted for Nurlan Bizakov, his operation and his family, they put so much into the game.
“I hope he stays sound, I hope we can enjoy him for a little while longer, he's a super horse."
Charyn’s Queen Anne Stakes success gained him a starting berth in the Breeders' Cup Mile, but connections are more keen on exploring options closer to home.
“He got the win and you're in from the Queen Anne,” Varian answered.
“It's (Breeders' Cup Mile) an option but I'm not sure it's a route we'll go down, we have a lot of ground to cover before then. It's nice to be invited and it's nice to have it as an option at the end of the year.
“We'll have to see how he is after today, he's in the Moulin and he's in the Queen Elizabeth II and we like the idea of Ascot, it's whether we go to Longchamp on the way or not and what we do after that and ahead of next year who knows?
“We'll enjoy today, it's a great race to win. I'd like to mention the Niarchos family, I believe it's the 38th year they've sponsored this race which is incredible, their support is amazing, so to win this race is amazing.”
On the undercard, Ombudsman, trained by the Gosdens for Godolphin, stretched his unbeaten record to three with a fine victory in the Listed Prix Nureyev under Ryan Moore. Ombudsman won with three and a half lengths from Sons And Lovers with Stromberg a further neck behind in third.
