France: Rouhiya wins Pouliches, Metropolitan takes Poulains

Nobody knew anything on Sunday at Longchamp, where heavy rain delayed the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and unlikely longshots poured down in both the Poulains and its sister race, the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

Rouhiya, 30-1 on the North American tote, won the Pouliches, the 1000 Guineas, by a head over Kathmandu, who set the pace and was nipped on the line at odds of 45-1. Just a neck farther back came Vespertilio, who loomed a winner a furlong out but settled for third at 17-1.

The Longchamp ground was termed good-to-soft for the 1000 Guineas, but was downgraded to soft after a rainstorm hit the racecourse before the 2000 Guineas could be run. There, 24-1 Metropolitan turned a perfect pocket trip into a half-length victory over Dancing Gemini, a 26-1 chance who beat 20-1 Alcantor to the wire by a head.

Henry Longfellow, unbeaten in three starts at age 2 and the strong Poulains favorite, had a generally lousy trip, locked behind and between horses for most of the race, though when the colt did see daylight, he failed to kick into a higher gear and wound up eighth. Second-choice Ramadan had a good trip and a brief lead in upper stretch before wilting late and checking in fifth, one place behind Henry Longfellow’s much-longer-priced stablemate, Diego Velazquez.

Alexis Pouchin, who plunked Metropolitan into an ideal spot saving ground just behind the pace, won his first Group 1 race, as did Metropolitan’s trainer, Mario Baratti. Metropolitan went 2 for 2 facing modest competition as a 2-year-old and had been fifth in the Prix de Fontainebleu in his Guineas prep. A son of Zarak and the Halling mare Alianza, Metropolitan is owned by the American owner and breeder Peter Bradley and Scuderia Scolari.

Another American, Peter Brant, had the 2-1 favorite for the Pouliches, Louise Procter, a White Birch Farm homebred who had started her career with three wins, but she raced at the rear of the field Sunday and never got untracked, finishing 13th.

No one closed much ground in the 1000 Guineas, which appeared to be run at a slow tempo, benefitting Kathmandu, who shipped from England after a third in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn and nearly stole the Pouliches in her Group 1 debut. She set the pace and held the lead until the final couple strides before Rouhiya ran her down. Under Maxime Guyon, Rouhiya raced prominently from the start, Guyon easing her off the pace to get cover into the race’s one turn, sticking just behind the leaders. Rouhiya initially wasn’t pleased with Guyon’s plan and tried to get too keen, but she settled enough to squeeze between Kathmandu and the Godolphin filly Romantic Style when a seam opened in the final furlong.

Rouhiya might not have won the Pouliches had the race come after the rain. Her trainer, Francis-Henri Graffard, called Rouhiya a good-ground filly, which accounted for her lackluster run over a heavy course in her lone start at age 3, a conditions race at Longchamp. Rouhiya, a daughter of Lope de Vega and Rondonia, by Raven’s Pass, made her Group stakes debut in the Pouliches and came away another classic winner for her breeder and owner, the Aga Khan.

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