Dice Roll easy winner in France's Prix Djebel

Dice Roll slogged over heavy ground Monday at Deauville Racecourse in France and won the Group 3 Prix Djebel by four lengths.

The fact it took him a glacial 1:28.57 to cover the straight-course seven furlongs says all one needs to know about testing conditions on the day. The heavy ground clearly hampered the chances of many in the race, with favored Sacred Life a distant fourth and second choice Cardsharp a struggling ninth. The Djebel is a trial for the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the French 2,000 Guineas, but how much bearing Monday’s outcome has on the big race likely depends on how wet the course is for the Poulains.

Dice Roll, ridden by Christian Demuro for trainer Fabrice Chappet, won three minor races from four starts last year at age 2 and was making his Group stakes debut Monday. Always prominent in the center of the course as the field split into two groups, he forged to the front in the final quarter-mile and slogged home unchallenged as a general 10-1 chance. French-bred Dice Roll is by Showcasing out of the Pulpit mare Shlague. Magic Bibou finished second and Batwan was third.

Sacred Life, a winner in all three of his starts at age 2, including a blowout Group 3 score at Saint-Cloud to end his season, couldn’t pick up on the heavy ground and merits another chance on firmer going.

Earlier on the card, Coeur de Beaute won the Group 3 Prix Impudence, a prep for the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) by a half-length over favored Zonza in an even slower affair than the Djebel. Coeur de Beaute, racing from near the back of the eight-horse field under Stephane Pasquier, required 1:30.18 to complete her seven furlongs while winning for the third time in seven starts for trainer Mauricio Delcher Sanchez.

Coeur de Beaute, by Dabirsim and out of the Rock of Gibraltar mare Twilight Tear, will go on to the French Guineas, but whether she can race effectively at a distance beyond seven furlongs at the top level remains to be seen.