Smart filly Savarin the result of breeding the best to the best

MBreeding the best to the best certainly appears to have worked out in the case of smart filly Savarin, who opened her account in convincing style in the maiden for unraced juvenile fillies at Deauville on Tuesday.

The Deep Impact filly was bred by Shadai Farm out of the 2010 Prix de Diane heroine Sarafina, an Aga Khan homebred who also annexed the Prix Saint-Alary and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

The daughter of Refuse To Bend was the joint champion three-year-old filly in Europe and has produced the stakes performers Geniale and Go Timing from her previous matings with Deep Impact.

She is also the dam of Plus, a two-time winner in Japan by the Neo Universe stallion Victoire Pisa, a son of Sunday Silence like Deep Impact.

"Monsieur Matsushima has had several runners in France and he owns her in association with Monsieur [Teruya] Yoshida, who bred her at Shadai Farm," said Patrick Barbe, racing manager for Yoshida.

"He's a new owner who has only been in racing for about three years and who also owns Geniale [also out of Sarafina].

"Monsieur Yoshida adores buying fillies that come from the Prix de Diane and he has Stacelita, Avenir Certain, La Cressonniere, as well as Physiocrate who was second and this year's runner-up Commes.

"He has quite a thing for the Diane and in general the fillies that come out of it are good producers.

"Running in France is a question of prestige because in terms of prize-money, you can add a zero in Japan. But to have a chance of winning the big races in France you are much better starting off here.

"A horse trained in Japan to leave the country for more than two months without suffering a big penalty in terms of quarantine when they go back. That's what makes it hard for them in the Arc, whereas the filly that won at Goodwood had been here for much longer and had properly acclimatised."

Sarafina is one of eight winners out of the placed Darshaan mare Sanariya along with the stakes-performed trio Sandagiyr, Sanaya and Sanjida.

The Marettes has been a consistent goldmine for future Group 1 winners and is a newcomer race in which the big yards come out to play. Recent graduates of the Marettes include Senga (second in 2016) and Qemah (second in 2015).

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