Brando Takes Prix Maurice de Gheest

Brando unleashed a withering burst of speed in the final furlongs to capture the LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1) Aug. 6 at Deauville, as the favorite, Caravaggio, again missed the break and struggled home sixth.

Brando, a 5-year-old Pivotal gelding, tracked early leader Signs of Blessing, last year's winner. When jockey Tom Eaves found a seam alongside that fading rival, Brando quickly kicked through to win by a half-length.

Brando opened his season with a win in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes (G3) at Newmarket in April. He then was last of 12 in the Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes (G2) in the north of England over soft turf May 17. Trainer Kevin Ryan said Brando bled in that effort.

He returned to show more promise on better going, finishing third in the Darley July Cup (G1) at Newmarket, where Caravaggio suffered his first loss and Harry Angel got the win. Ryan gave extra points for that effort, as he was not able to maintain Brando's training pattern between races due to a stable quarantine.

Ryan said the 32Red Sprint Cup (G1) Sept. 9 at Haydock could be the next target for the gelding, depending on the going. That could be a rematch with Harry Angel.

The minor placings in the Prix Maurice de Gheest were the province of longshots Aclaim, Tupi, and Magical Memory. Signs of Blessing finished fifth and Caravaggio came in 4 1/2 lengths behind the winner.

Caravaggio, a Scat Daddy colt, started from the inside stall and trailed the field after badly missing the jump, as he did in the July Cup. He never reached contention for jockey Ryan Moore.

After he won his sixth straight race in the Commonwealth Cup (G1) at Royal Ascot June 23, his Coolmore connections had high hopes of taking Caravaggio to Australia in the fall for the rich Everest Stakes (G1).

Trainer Aidan O'Brien said Caravaggio's schedule will be reviewed. In the meantime, O'Brien said he feels the colt needs a bit of rest after four tough races in little more than two months.

Bound For Nowhere, trained by Wesley Ward and ridden by Frankie Dettori, finished 10th in the Prix Gheest, beaten 7 1/2 lengths, going the wrong way from his fourth-place finish in the Commonwealth Cup. By The Factor  , Bound For Nowhere won his first two starts in the springtime at Turfway Park and Keeneland.