'She can lead the French resistance in the Prix Morny' - Ramatuelle continues Christopher Head's cracking season

A day on from City Of Troy's demonstration in the Superlative Stakes, Ramatuelle reinforced her position among the leading juveniles in Europe with a flawless display in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin. 

Sent off the 2-5 favourite on the back of her Group 3 win on Diane day in the Prix du Bois, Aurelien Lemaitre kept a tight hold of Ramatuelle through the first half mile before letting out the minimum amount of rein to inflect a four-length defeat on City Of Troy's stablemate, His Majesty, at Chantilly. 

"It was a different race because last time we had real leaders," said winning trainer Christopher Head, whose season goes from strength to strength following the dual Classic victories of Blue Rose Cen. 

"I had the feeling that today nobody really wanted to go in front and do the job. The times are not going to be the same and it was probably more exciting last time. But whatever happens, it was just important to win and then go to the Morny, that's really the challenge."

Ramatuelle has won three of her four starts by an aggregate of 13 and a half lengths, while her sole defeat came when beaten a nose by Beauvatier, who has since shown he is a colt to be seriously reckoned with by landing the Listed Prix Roland de Chambure at Deauville over seven furlongs.

Despite another comfortable success, Head believes Ramatuelle will have plenty of fight in her when it comes to her next race, the Group 1 Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville on August 20.

"I'm pretty sure of that," said Head. "We will see who turns up for the Morny but I'm pretty sure this is her trip at the moment – 1,000 or 1,200 metres is really her profile. For now I'm really focused on working on her speed and getting her to run the best time possible. She's doing the job."

Ramatuelle shares more than quality with City Of Troy, with both hailing from the second crop of US Triple Crown hero Justify.

"Justify is one of those stallions you want in training because overall Ramatuelle has been very sound physically and mentally," said Head. "She never sweats up and she has everything you want in a horse. Justify seems like he will be a brilliant stallion for the future." 

Tony Parker (holding the trophy) with Ramatuelle

Ramatuelle carries the colours of former San Antonio Spurs basketball star Tony Parker, who is hopeful that his filly can strike a rare blow for the home team in the Morny. Since Dabirsim struck for Christophe Ferland in 2011, Godolphin's Earthlight is the sole French-trained winner of Deauville's traditional six-furlong speed test.

Parker said: "I've quite quickly understood that the French two-year-olds find life pretty tough but that is where a lot of the emphasis rests with our stable; that's what we've worked towards and I love the speed of those races.

"Ramatuelle fits that profile perfectly and I hope she can lead the French resistance in the Prix Morny."

Read these next:

City Of Troy bulldozes onto the scene as the year's best juvenile - three things we learned this week 

Did they really just do that? Shaquille and City Of Troy leave Newmarket buzzing 

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