American Pharoah gets his first Group winner as Maven shines at Chantilly

Freshman American Pharoah's journey to becoming a successful stallion passed two significant milestones on Saturday as he posted a first stakes performer in Ireland and then a breakthrough Group winner in France within hours of each other.

Monarch Of Egypt collected that first piece of black type for his Triple Crown-winning sire when running second in the Group 2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh, although the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt was firmly put in his place by the impressive two-and-a-half-length winner Siskin, a son of First Defence saddled by Ger Lyons.

More creditable was the convincing front-running victory of American Pharoah's other son Maven, albeit by a rapidly diminishing head as the Power filly Jolie closed on him in the final yards, in the Group 3 Prix du Bois at Chantilly.

Maven is trained – and bred – by crack US handler Wesley Ward, and he carries the silks of Richard Ravin. Having won a maiden special weight over four and a half furlongs at Aqueduct in April, he was offered at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot with an entry in the Norfolk Stakes but was unsold at £725,000, and was withdrawn from his royal engagement due to soft ground.

Maven is out of Richies Party Girl, a daughter of Any Given Saturday trained by Ward and co-owned by him and Ravin, and winner of the Juvenile Turf Sprint on the Breeders' Cup undercard from the Grade 3 scorer Toowindytohaulrox.

Richies Party Girl is a half-sister to Strategic Partner, a Grade 3 winner over a mile and half a furlong on turf at Churchill Downs, and Victory Light, Grade 2-placed over a mile on the Woodbine turf. Another winning half-sister, Light From Above, is the dam of Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes second Light The City.

American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years when, after a champion two-year-old season, he landed the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2015. The son of Pioneerof The Nile showed admirable fortitude to progress from a gruelling Classic trail to add the Haskell Invitational and Breeders' Cup Classic to his tally that season.

Standing at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky – at a fee of $110,000 this year – he has posted three winners from his debut juvenile crop. Besides Saturday's stakes performers, the other is Saqqara King, who struck in a Newmarket novice stakes last Saturday for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin.

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