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Adding further substance to the list of thriving fillies at Chappet Racing, the aptly named SWEETHEART opened her account in impressive fashion on Thursday afternoon, showing a beautiful turn of foot to claim the Prix de Gruchy at Deauville. 

Carrying the silks of PG Racing Club, a group of lady owners having their first experience in racehorse ownership headed up by loyal yard supporter Antoinette Tamagni, SWEETHEART was returning to action for the first time since being narrowly denied at Deauville in November. Improving with each run, the daughter of Al Wukair looks exciting for the season ahead and proved well suited to the drop down to 1,400m. 

Ridden by Ioritz Mendizabal, SWEETHEART was held up towards the rear of the eleven runners through the opening stages of the race and tried to find cover from her outside draw. Travelling strongly throughout the race, SWEETHEART was blocked by a wall of horses when making her move and had to be switched on multiple occasions. Taken right across to the standside rail at 200m from, the filly still had over three lengths to find but once in the clear, she devoured the gap to the leader and went on to score comfortably. 

Fabrice Chappet was extremly pleased with her perfromance

“SWEETHEART was only narrowly beaten last season. She had been working well, but we had a concern about the ground … which she handled well! She won very pleasantly, especially considering the traffic she had to negotiate. Now that she has gained some experience, we will try our hand at securing some black type”

The third horse of Antoinette Tamagni to score for the yard, following successes from both WATCHMEN last season, and MISTER GATSBY in January at Deauville. Bred by Haras du Saint Julian, SWEETHEART is out of the DANEHILL DANCER mare SANTA CHRISTIANA. She has also produced winners in the shape of FAMOUS PEARL, who scored at Leopardstown, and MASTERDREAM, a winner in Les Landes, Jersey.