France: Vandeek catches Ramatuelle in final strides of Prix Morny

Vandeek ran down favored Ramatuelle to win the Group 1 Prix Morny by a head on Sunday at sodden Deauville Racecourse.

Vandeek ran his record to three wins from three starts while giving co-trainers Simon and Ed Crisford their first win in a Group 1 race.

The Morny, for 2-year-olds over a straight six furlongs, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and Vandeek now has automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and shipping expenses from England, where the Crisfords are based, to California. But the turf Vandeek would find at Santa Anita won’t be anything like the very soft course on which he raced at Deauville.

:: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets.

Vandeek already had won the Group 2 Richmond on demanding ground at Goodwood on Aug. 3, and once jockey Andrea Atzeni steered right with a couple furlongs remaining, coming out from behind a wall of horses to latch onto Ramatuelle’s back, Vandeek slogged just slightly better than Ramatuelle. A filly who got four pounds from Vandeek, Ramatuelle staved off Vandeek until the last three or four strides while finishing two lengths clear of third-place River Tiber.

River Tiber came from last and closed solidly while running in a race trainer Aidan O’Brien thought the colt might miss because of a pulled muscle suffered a couple weeks ago.

Vandeek is by Havana Grey out of Mosa Mine, by Exceed and Excel. He will need a new rider in his next start as Atzeni is headed to Hong Kong, where he has a contract to ride the 2023-24 racing season.

***Mqse de Sevine became the first horse to pull off the Prix Rothschild and Prix Jean Romanet double in the same year, winning the 1 1/4-mile Romanet by a nose on Sunday at Deauville after landing the one-mile Rothschild on Aug. 3.

Mqse de Sevigne raced from last under Alexis Pouchin and followed a wide move by favored Via Sistina into the homestretch, just nipping Via Sistina on the wire. A 4-year-old filly by Siyouni and trained by Andre Fabre, Mqse de Sevigne likely will cut back to a mile for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.