Kelina and Rajapour leave connections dreaming after debut wins in Deauville

Both Kelina and Rajapour whetted the appetite for a sensational few weeks' racing in Deauville when running out eyecatching winners of their respective newcomer contests on debut.

Frankel filly Kelina was following in the footsteps of paternal half-sibling and recent Group 2 winner Raclette when strolling to a front-running win in the Prix des Marettes, a result that clearly left a big impression on her trainer, Carlos Laffon-Parias.

Laffon-Parias said: "On the basis of what she's been doing in the morning she is the best filly I've had for a long time. I didn't know if that meant she would win today but I knew she was better than anything else I have.

"When you like a filly you have to put them up against what you know will be good opposition. I would have preferred for her to have been waited with a little but she took two lengths out of them at the start. After that she relaxed well in front and Maxime [Guyon, jockey] was able to ride the race he wanted. She will run next in the Group 3 Prix d'Aumale, it's the obvious race."

The two-year-old is a homebred for the Wertheimers and is from an outstanding family. She is out of the Listed winner Incahoots, an Oasis Dream half-sister to Prix Rothschild winner With You (Dansili), Prix du Cadran scorer Call The Wind (Frankel), Prix de l'Opera heroine We Are (Dansili) plus two further stakes winners in In Crowd and Dream Clover.

Rajapour: Almanzor's son is a smart prospect for the Aga Khan and Jean-Claude RougetCredit: Scott Burton

The Prix de Crevecoeur brought up another potentially smart winner in the Aga Khan's homebred Rajapour, a son of Almanzor who was providing trainer Jean-Claude Rouget with his 7,000th winner. Former winners of this race include Rouget's Poule d'Essai des Poulains scorer Olmedo (2017), while Persian King and Charm Spirit were second in it on debut in 2018 and 2013 respectively.

It was a fitting landmark win given Rouget trained Almanzor to his outstanding successes in the Prix du Jockey Club, Irish Champion Stakes and Champion Stakes six years ago.

Rouget said of Rajapour: "This is obviously a nice race to aim at but in fact it wasn't his objective. He was due to run at Saint-Cloud but it was 40 degrees so we decided to stay in Deauville, where it hasn't been as hot, and to wait for this.

"He finished off his race very well and it's encouraging for the future. He was out on his own a bit in the middle of the track there and I was quite impressed. He's a beautiful-looking colt and he will be one of our hopes for next year."

His exciting prospect is out of the high-class Raydara, a daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar who won the Debutante Stakes in 2014 for Michael Halford as well as finishing fourth to Legatissimo in the Matron Stakes the following year.

The ten-year-old is a half-sister to two winners including the Listed-placed Rondonia, by Raven's Pass, with the pair being out of the stakes winner Raydiya, a Marju granddaughter of Royal Whip Stakes winner and Irish St Leger second Rayseka.

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