22 September 2023
Photo scoopdyga.com
Friday, September 22, 2023, Saint-Cloud Racecourse (Hauts-de-Seine). – Following two late scratches, eleven fillies lined up for the €55,000 Darley Prix Coronation (L), one of the season's final black-type races restricted to 3-year-old fillies over a mile. The race lived up to expectations with a wide-open finish in which the French-trained Quickstep (Wootton Bassett), making her first appearance in 131 days after an unlucky run in the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (Gr1), held off a strong finish from the English favourite, Orchid Bloom (Farhh). The latter was beaten by a short neck after seeking the support of the stands' rail, entering the home straight. Long seen at the rear, Quickstep advanced through the course's centre by the field, adding to the merit of this second win of the year, the third of her career.
Having entered the fray early despite a tough outside run without any cover, Sandy Creek (Frankel) stayed on in third, more than two lengths behind.
Her breeder, Haras des Granges, sold Quickstep as a weanling at Arqana for €120,000 to Canirola Bloodstock. She later made £350,000 at Tattersalls, where she was offered as a yearling by Etreham and was bought by Stroud-Coleman for Godolphin.
In December 2022, just days before Quickstep's debut win, Mathieu Daguzan-Garros also parted with her weanling Persian King sister, purchased in Deauville by Bobby Flay for €65,000. The second dam is none other than the talented Toupie (Intikhab), who was second in the Poule d'Essai (Gr1) for François Rohaut and exported to Japan at age 8 after being bought back at Deauville sales for €340,000.
An Almanzor filly was born this year.