One of 13 stakes-winning two year-olds last year in the Northern Hemisphere for Wootton Bassett (GB), exciting colt Maranoa Charlie made a winning return in France overnight taking out the Group III Prix Djebel (1400m) at Deauville as a short priced favourite.
Trained by Christopher Head and ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre, Maranoa Charlie won three of his four starts last season at two including a G3 victory before ending the year with a fourth in the Group I Saint Cloud Criterium International.
He led all the way sporting ear muffs for the first time and surged at the finish to win by a length and a quarter.
“I love Maranoa Charlie's attitude at the end as he went again when the runner-up came to him and showed real fight. He already looked like a three-year-old last year but he has strengthened further over the winter,” said Christopher Head.
“We'll have to discuss it with the owners but as well as the Poule [d'Essai des Poulains] there are several options. He could go sprinting or perhaps he might run in Britain. He seems to have plenty of gas and I think we'll look at races for him that place an accent on his speed. All options remain open at the moment.”
Maranoa Charlie was bought for €220,000 at the Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale by the Broadhurst Agency and runs for Australian owners Peter Maher, Carl Fitzgerald and John Baxter.
Bred by Haras D’Etreham in partnership, he is the first winner from Koubalibre, a winning half-sister by Galileo to Group I winner Tiggy Wiggy, who is now in Australia at Coolmore.
Her yearling colt by Frankel was sold at Inglis Easter this week for $750,000 to Chris Waller Racing / Mulcaster Bloodstock and she has a St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) colt to follow and is now back in foal to Maranoa Charlie’s sire Wootton Bassett.
Wootton Bassett enjoyed outstanding results earlier this week at Inglis Easter with 12 yearlings selling at an average $527,917 highlighted by two colts that sold for upwards of a million and both were bought by Tom Magnier.
Yarraman Park sold a colt from Upfront (USA) for $1.4million and Ridgmont sold a colt from Egyptian Missile for $1.2million.
