Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard knew in the early stages of the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu that star New Zealand bred mare Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed) would not be in the finish of the French feature over 2800m.
The 2021 Melbourne Cup-winner failed to fire a shot eventually finishing seventh in the field of 10 runners after jumping from what was expected to be an advantageous inside draw.
“She had the worst scenario possible,” a despondent Graffard said post-race.
“At the first bend, when I saw where we were, I said that it was over. The pace was against her, and she was pulling and she needs room, which she didn’t get.
“The one thing we didn’t want was for her to be on the rail boxed in and that’s what happened.”
Verry Elleegant couldn’t quicken in the straight and was left flat footed by the leading group of horses including winner Sea La Rosa ridden by Tom Marquand, much to the disappointment of connections and Graffard who again believe luck wasn’t on their side.
“It’s very unfortunate because she loves the game, she looks fantastic, she’s happy, she’s fit and she’s trying hard, but everything is going against her. Today was another example unfortunately,” Graffard said.
“There’s a lot of disappointment for such a fantastic mare to be beaten like this. It’s upsetting because I really wanted to show the fantastic filly that she is, she was ready to run really well and everything goes against her.
“She didn’t have a hard race. She looked great after, she doesn’t looked cooked to me. It’s simple in my mind – she will go to Ascot for the fillies and mares race on Champions Day. She could be retired, it depends on the owners, but for me, physically, she’s not a cooked filly. She’s never shown that in the mornings, she’s keen to go.
“The day that things go her way, you will see the real Verry Elleegant.”
Australian jockey Mark Zahra, who travelled to France to ride the seven-year-old, echoed her new trainer’s thoughts.
“After today, I think you need to give her one more and then you’ll really know where she is at,” Zahra said.
“You can’t judge her on today or any of her runs so far because things just haven’t gone her way. It’s hard to compare how she was before with how she is now because she’s a little bit older and she’d obviously travelled too, but it definitely wasn’t a case of her not putting in.
“We know what a great mare she is and hopefully Europe will get to see that too under the right conditions.”
