UNBEATEN BRANTOME

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 23

UNBEATEN BRANTOME

GREATER THAN PHAR LAP ?

Fiance lias a three-year-colt this year that is being hailed ,as, the horse ;of: the century.- This;is.< Braiitbme; ia son •of Blaijdford, who has not yet been beaten xk■■ nine starts (including the Prix de l'Ai-e,!de''TrioTriish4 at : Longchatnp.- bit Cicfdbor 7). On Jjis_ record he bids fair to bust even the~great # Phar liap from dominance,* and, : Fr,qnoh critics at least declare that there never yet has been a horse like him: He was bred in France but is a son of the new '"Emperor of Stallions," the phenomenal Blandford. an: English siro who this year is smashing all records,, even the seventy-year-old' figures of the old Emperor, Stockwell^ | I Brantome carried his unbeaten sequence j 'to eight by winning the.Prix Royal Oak: at Longchamp on September 23 last. This | race is.decided over a distance of one mile and seven furlongs, and it may truly be i regarded as the French St. Leger.; In the last ten years; it has been won bysuch celebrities as Ksar, Filibert de Savoie, Uganda, and, Fiterari. ■■ .■ Pl•ior torthe race Brantome had been absent from a racecourse for over three months. Just as it was thought that, his owner, Baron E. de Rothschild, wbuld for the first time- (and '- the family has been racing extensively for about sixty years!) gain for the w.ell-known colours success in the Prix dv Jockey Club '.(French Derby), an outbreak 6f coughing' attacked about half a dozen of the best.h'c-rses i" n th? kig1 string of Lucien -Robert! at .Chantilly.: Among them was the/champion of the stable. That insidious malady also prevented Brantbm'e's appearance in the Grand,:Prix. ■;■ .-,-.. . r ; . The .Grand Prix winner Admiral Drake was among the opponents of Brantome in the-,,Royal-Oak, as 'well as Fpulaubin (second in the-Grand Prix), and Morvillars (successful in the Deauville Grand Prix). The field was composed of ten colts all carrying 9st 21b. ' It would be well to remember thfi state of the training grounds at Chantilly dur-! ing the month of August, when all the best horses are away in the country. These tracks are rarely watered. Consequently they become very hard and rutty. It is almost impossible for.any trainer of really good horses remaining at Chantilly in August to take the risk of giving them a preparation such as would be necessary in view of competing in a classic event. This accounted for the-fact • that Brantome did not appear to show all the

fire he usually does. famous son was very nervous in the paddock and in the parade ring. At the post he required careful handling on the part of his rider. . , ■ ' - '' " ....'- ,-

At the start- of!-the Royal Oak' Astronomer was well away, but C. Bouillon kept Brantome well in reserve. .At the top of the ascent he was third from last, alongside Admiral Drake. Swinging <downhill into the straight Astronomer's rider urged him along.- He looked as thoughrhe was going to repeat his triumph of the previous week, for he was galloping easily , ; on the rails:with:no opponents to : bother him; Brantome had not;had a free ,',passage. When his jockey, however, found, an opening, the gallant little colt came, away with an amazing burst of speed. Racing most courageously .he refused to accept defeat.' Head down :he resolutely battled to overtake the leader, and,in the ]ast few strides got up on the post to finish a head in. front/of Astronomer. ~., ~ •;'■•■m. .;■;■■ ■'.:'.■

■• The stirring finish raised to the highest pitch the emotions., of : his : enthusiastic partisans.: It was the nearest that_Brantome had-ever - been to defeat. After, his return to the. unsaddling enclosure,: Brantome showed signs of, nis [desperate contest. Ten minutes or more after the race he again coughed' several times. Baron E.'de Rothschild however, 1 announced that the colt would take his chance in the Trix de l'Are de Tnomphe ~on October. 7...;, . .'. - '- . '..''<' .

The Prix de. TAre, de Triomphe, when it came a fortnight later, found Brantome rflgreater colt than ever. Thirteen started, and Brantome led his field a^ the end of the mile and a: half <o: win-readily by two lengths and a half from the four-year-olds, the Count, de Rivaiid's Assuerus .and the Aga Khan's Felicitation. It was the first time the'colt had encountered older horses. He is. able, to win over all distances and on all .sorts of, going. Will he now follow the examples of Ajax and Prestige; two compatriots who retired unbeaten? '• '--'■■■ ■■-. ■■...■■'-'

Brantome, described as a great little colt, "was bred at the Haras de Meautry, Touques, in Normandy, by his (Baron Edouard de Rothschild).: Here is his record to date:—As a two-year-old, the tmvanqtiished winner, of 'four .races, value 394,055 francs; officially handicapped 71b better than any other colt of his age, the closest attendant being Admiral Drake. This year, his victories have been the Prix de Sevres, one mjle, : by six lengths; French 2000 Guineas, one mile, by three lengths (Admiral Drake second): Prix Lupin, ten and a half furlongs, by two and a half lengths; the Royal Oak, one mile and seven furlongs, by a head; and the Prix An l'Are de Triomphe. o"e mile and a half, by two lengths and a halfl