Unbeaten two-year-old, who has won all three starts by an aggregate of nearly 20 lengths, makes his first appearance in G1 company at Saint-Cloud this weekend
Beware, the ghost of Arazi still haunts. Thirty-three years after the unbeaten colt from France circled the field like a high-powered motorbike to stun the Breeders’ Cup crowd at Churchill Downs, a similar level of excitement is being generated by another unbeaten French juvenile, this one bearing the name of an indigenous elder from the Australian outback.
His name is Maranoa Charlie, by Wootton Bassett out of a Galileo mare, and although the pedigree might suggest a Coolmore-Ballydoyle connection, this colt is owned by three Australians and trained at Chantilly by Christopher Head.
Maranoa Charlie is unbeaten in three starts, ridden each time by Aurelien Lemaitre. First seen in a conditions race down the straight seven furlongs at Deauville in August, which he won by 3½ lengths, he then progressed to victories in a four-runner contest at Chantilly followed by the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud this month, both over a mile, each to the tune of eight lengths.
Head says he has never trained a horse like him, citing his desire to run and take on other horses, making him a bit special. Peter Maher, the senior part-owner of the colt, is still shaking his head in amazement at what was seen at Saint-Cloud.
“He was so keen early in the race, on very soft ground, going ten lengths clear at one stage,” says Maher. “I was expecting the others to get to him, but he found another gear and accelerated away. It was incredible.”
Haven’t we been here before, experienced turfistes might ask? A potential world-beating two-year-old, winning by wide margins, making the opposition look ordinary, before reality kicks in later?
Arazi, trained by Francois Boutin, won six races on the trot in France before his spectacular 1991 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile triumph. It was the first of only two runs on dirt for the son of Blushing Groom – six months later he finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, a neck behind Dr Devious, who went on to win the Derby at Epsom, and a long way off the winner Lil E. Tee. Arazi won only one race subsequently, the G2 Prix du Rond-Point at Longchamp.
This, though, is of little relevance to Maher and his young trainer as they aim Maranoa Charlie at Sunday’s G1 Criterium International over a mile back at Saint-Cloud, and they go there with a slightly changed approach, as the owner reveals.
“The colt is very well, and Christopher is very happy with him. At home, they have changed his routine a little. They’ve put another rider on [in his work] and changed the bit. He’s using a ring bit on him, a bit we know well in Australia. Christopher said that he’s not going as hard in his work now,” says Maher.
“He’s been taking a hold in his races, galloping too generously for his own good – yet he keeps winning. The change of bit is a way to assist him and his rider in trying to get him to relax and conserve a little for the finish, and he pleased Christopher in his work on Tuesday morning.”
Maranoa Charlie is named after an indigenous elder revered by the Kunja people early in the 20th century. Maher says: “Maranoa Charlie made a name for himself by standing up for indigenous peoples and their rights. He wasn’t afraid to take on the non-indigenous either.
“In south-west Queensland, around Roma, he is still revered and very well known. Roma is famous as the home of Arthur Beetson, an all-time great of rugby league, who became the first indigenous player to captain the Australian team.
“I am an unashamed supporter of indigenous peoples and their rights. Twenty years ago, Michael Long, a former Australian Rules footballer, walked from Melbourne to Canberra to talk to Prime Minister John Howard about the issues. I was with Michael on that walk.”
Maher, whose media monitoring business in Australia made him a wealthy man two decades ago, is no stranger to owning quality horses. In 1999, the John Gosden-trained Valentine Waltz carried his green and white silks to victory in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) at Longchamp.
“Valentine Waltz was the first horse we bought,” adds Maher. “She cost 75,000gns and won the G3 Nell Gwyn, was third in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and then won in Paris.
“We thought at the time if we did it once, surely to goodness we can do it again. It can’t be that difficult. It’s so addictive, this sport. It’s only taken us another 25 years to get one who looks like he’s good enough!”
His partners in Maranoa Charlie are John Baxter, a Sydney lawyer, and Carl Fitzgerald, a prison officer from Hobart. They went beyond budget to secure the colt for €220,000 at last year’s Arqana Deauville August yearling sale.
“He was far and away our pick of the sale, but we thought he would make far too much money, maybe 400,000, half a million. When the bidding slowed, we put in the final bid and got him,” he recalls.
Maher has also owned horses in Australia for many years but Europe draws him like a magnet. “We were always fascinated to hear about and listen to these amazing races, learning of racing centres such as Newmarket, Ascot, Longchamp and Chantilly.
“It’s a bit like growing up listening to cricket at Lord’s, Old Trafford and other places on the radio. There was, I think, an absolute compulsion to experience what these places were like,” he says.
For Maher and his partners, Saint-Cloud will be up there with those other famous venues should Maranoa Charlie make it four from four in his first attempt at G1 level. There is a touch of the romantic about the owner in his quest for another horse with Classic claims, and a handsome win on Sunday might well see Maranoa Charlie installed as winter favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket next spring.
Two more impressive juvenile winners … who both won Classics
Celtic Swing
In 1994, Peter Savill’s exciting juvenile was unbeaten in three for trainer Lady Herries at the end of his two-year-old days, with winning margins of four lengths, eight lengths and 12 lengths, the latter recorded in the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.
At three, he was beaten a head by Pennekamp in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and won the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) after Savill elected to bypass the Derby at Epsom – a decision slammed by Racing Post breeding expert Tony Morris, who called it ‘Sad, Mad, Bad’.
Frankel
This superb champion ended his two-year-old campaign with a four-for-four record. Two of his wins were especially memorable, firstly a 13-length stroll in a conditions race at Doncaster, then a ten-length annihilation of the opposition in the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot. He rounded off his first season by taking the G1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
He raced on at three and four and finished his career unbeaten in 14 races. His 2,000 Guineas win in 2011, by six lengths, is perhaps the most brilliant Classic triumph of the modern era. He led by 15 lengths at halfway – it was breathtaking.
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