BackTrack: Champs Elysees Wins Canadian International

From the moment he arrived at the California stable of trainer Bobby Frankel two years ago, Juddmonte Farms' homebred Champs Elysees had family obligations to uphold.


The Danehill horse was blessed with an impeccable pedigree as a son of a great European sire and the mare Hasili, producer of no less than five group/grade 1 winners.

In France from ages 2 through 4 with trainer Andre Fabre, Champs Elysees won a group 3 and placed in a few group 2 and 3 races before a promising runner-up showing in the Gran Premio del Jockey Club (G1) in October 2007. It was then that Khalid Abdullah and his team at Juddmonte sent the horse to North America. 
Frankel, who trained Champs Elysees' champion turf female full sibling Banks Hill, was expecting big things.


It took some time, but Champs Elysees joined his illustrious family members by becoming a grade 1 winner in 2008 in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by VTech at Woodbine, and Oct. 17 over the same turf, he ended his career with the biggest score of his life.


At the age of 6, Champs Elysees went out in a blaze of glory, surging to a half-length victory in the $1,927,556 Pattison Canadian International (G1T) over the red-hot European star Jukebox Jury.


The victory earned Champs Elysees a huge chance at being named Canadian Horse of the Year, since he has made the required three starts in Canada in 2009.


It was a tremendously satisfying win for the team surrounding the often win-shy bay, who came into the International off a troubled trip in Woodbine's Sept. 20 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes, the race he had won in 2008.

"I just try to ride him with all the confidence in the world," said jockey Garrett Gomez, who was winning his first International. "He is probably one of the most talented horses I have seen. But he finds ways to get himself beaten. He seems to never end up in the winner's circle on the big days. I am glad to see him get a big one."


Juddmonte manager Garrett O'Rourke echoed Gomez' sentiments after watching the horse get sawed off in mid-bid in the Northern Dancer, finishing fourth, and then being placed third when victorious Marsh Side, the 2008 International winner, was disqualified for causing interference to several rivals.

"I thought he was the best horse last time and he didn't get to show it, so I'm glad he got to show it today," said O'Rourke. "It was a little bit of a different trip today. Garrett has always ridden him with a lot of confidence."

Following the race, O'Rourke confirmed that Champs Elysees would be sent to Abdullah's Banstead Manor Stud near Newmarket, England, to prepare for a stud career in 2010.


A small but select group of eight took part in the 73rd International, a 1 1/2-mile tour around Woodbine's glossy E.P. Taylor turf course, which was listed as firm.

Four from the messy Northern Dancer, including Marsh Side, Just as Well (the runner-up who was placed first), and Quijano were back for another round and meeting group 1 winner Jukebox Jury, group 3 winner Buccellati, listed winner Allied Powers, and U.S. graded stakes winner Spice Route.


A lack of pace in the race left Marsh Side as the eager front runner, a style foreign to the 6-year-old son of Gone West. The fractions appeared slow on paper—:26.02, :51.35, and 1:15.76—but the heavy rain in the weeks leading up to the race gave the course some cut in the ground. Champs Elysees was more than a half-dozen lengths behind Marsh Side early in the race while Jukebox Jury tracked the leader.


"I was quite content early on going around the first couple of turns; the pace seemed to quicken up the backstretch and even more along the way from there," said Gomez. "When I moved on him, he accelerated and started hitting gears for me."


Jukebox Jury got the first jump to the lead when Marsh Side began to tire with Buccellati putting in his own bid. It was not until the last furlong that Champs Elysees, who had worked his way around rivals while wide, blew past in the nick of time for his sixth win in 28 starts. The final time was 2:28.36.


A winner of the Hollywood Turf Cup (G1T) last December at Hollywood Park, the horse collected $1.2 million from the purse to retire with $2.86 million in earnings.


"His full brother, Dansili, is one of the best stallions in Europe if not the world so this guy is going to be an important stallion addition," O'Rourke said.