4 October 2020
Photo scoopdyga.com
Sunday, October 4, 2020, ParisLongchamp. - 35 minutes after Sealiway's success in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, it is another Marseilles training centre resident who wins at the top level in the juvenile division. Indeed, the winner of the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr1), the Critérium des Pouliches, is Tiger Tanaka (Clodovil), trained by the Marseilles handler Charley Rossi and ridden by his wife Jessica Marcialis, also the first woman to win a Group 1 on Arc weekend!
It was a messy race in the middle of the homestretch, but the rider had avoided the traffic as she made way by the rail, steering her mount to the post without interference to win by ¾ of a length over Tasmania (Zoffany) and Rougir (Territories), racing for the Haras de la Gousserie already in the spotlight in the “Lagardère”, and trained by Cédric Rossi, brother of the winning trainer!
The first three home were born and bred in France.
Tiger Tanaka was bought at the Irish sales by French bloodstock agent Pascale Ménard for € 6,500. This is the first foal out of the Wolverhampton all-weather winner Miss Phillyjinks (Zoffany). She was bought after her first outing, winning a claimer at Lyon-Parilly, where it was claimed for € 23,789 by her current owner, Miguel Castro Megias. She ran and won twice again in this category before confirming in a Class 2 race, then taking a solid second place in the Darley Prix Robert Papin (Gr2), where she almost beat the English raider Ventura Tormenta. She then won the Prix François Boutin (Gr3) at Deauville.
What they said
Charley Rossi (trainer of Tiger Tanaka, 1st)
“It’s only another race! (laughs). No, it's exceptional really, for Jessica, the horses and the whole team. She is not a great mover in the mornings but she ran so well in the Papin, that proved to us that she had the level for this. With Jessica, the filly has always been respected and that has helped us to win today I think. We gave her plenty of time to get ready for the Boussac. She is now qualified for the Breeders Cup, we could be tempted to have a go”
Jessica Marcialis (jockey of Tiger Tanaka, 1st)
“It’s not possible, I must be dreaming, I can’t speak its incredible. Everybody is here, my future husband, my family, my friends and I’m there riding a filly who has just won a Group1, who was bought in a claimer!. What’s going on ?! She has done all the work, I’m just a passenger. Today we wanted to keep her calm, she was nice and switched off and then when the gap came she really accelerated. She just started to pull herself up 200m out but when Tasmania came alongside, she took off again”
Miguel Castro Megias (owner of Tiger Tanaka, 1st)
“You can’t imagine how happy I am for Jessica. Today, my only wish was that Jessica would remember this day forever. I’m extremely happy for my family, this is a great day, Charly has done an incredible job.”
Carlos Laffon-Parias (trainer of Tasmania, 2nd)
“Tasmania has ran really well, I think if we had a better draw we could have been a lot closer. She has come from last there. She only ran eleven days ago, we weren’t supposed to run but it was the soft ground that changed our minds. We couldn’t have known before that she was going to run that well. That’s it for this year, she will come back next year. She has already run over 1,600m and should get further in the future.”
Cédric Rossi (trainer of Rougir, 3rd)
“She has ran well, we found an excuse for her fifth place finish in the Prix Six Perfections. There was a little problem with one of her gallops before that race. Then, next time out she finished third with very little work. She was only hacking for two months. She stayed calm and thats exactly what we needed. We will leave her be until next year now. That’s the first time I have has a runner in a Group 1 ! There was even a little moment i thought she was going to do it.”