The China Mail - Gezora wins Prix de Diane in Graffard masterpiece

Gezora's jockey Christophe Soumillon produced the winner down the outside as she stormed clear with a stunning burst of pace.

They flashed past the post to raucous cheers from a bumper crowd basking in the sunshine with the Chantilly chateau and its equally impresssive stables providing a suitably sumptuous backdrop.

Aidan O'Brien's Irish raider Bedtime Story came with a late run and was catching Gezora but the finishing post came just in time.

Graffard's Cankoura was third with Mandanaba, owned by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, fourth.

Little wonder that Graffard, 48, was jumping up and down in the stands as he soaked up his achievement.

"I am ecstatic," he said.

"The three were not entered because I am a dreamer, they all had chances.

"It is difficult to make a choice of what races you put your horses in when you have different owners.

"My neck suffered as I had to follow all three with my binoculars, it was not that easy!"

Graffard is usually one who is an expert at managing his emotions but mention of his father being present had him choking back tears.

Graffard has a law degree, but despite not coming from a racing family, his head was turned to eventually becoming a trainer.

His father had other ideas.

"He wanted me to be a Formula One driver!" said Graffard.

"I did not think that was a good idea and I chose racing.

"However, having done that my father has supported me from day one and was in the yard when the first horse arrived.

"It gives me a lot of pleasure for me to give them joy and make them proud."

- 'Steal away from school' -

Whilst Graffard was winning his second Diane, for Soumillon it was his third but first since the unbeaten Zarkava in 2008.

The ebullient 44-year-old Belgian had hurled his goggles into the crowd after winning the previous race but he retained these ones whilst thanking spectators for offering their congratulations.

"In the finishing straight I was a bit blocked but once I got clear of that trouble I seized my opportunity," said Soumillon.

"I had a bit of luck that I got this ride as on Tuesday the horse I was due to ride fractured a bone on the gallops.

"Fortunately the owners (American Peter Brant's White Birch Farm) wanted me to ride."

For 78-year-old Brant it was his first Diane victory after years of trying in a sport he fell in love with as a schoolboy.

"I used to steal away from school and bet on racing, it has been a long journey!" he said.

The other raiders from abroad failed to land a blow, though, for a brief few seconds the lively English syndicate who own the favourite Shes Perfect threatened to bring the stand down as she led.

However, there was to be no rich consolation prize for them, some of whom felt they had been hard done by when she was demoted from first to second in the French 1000 Guineas last month.

She got swallowed up by the Graffard trio and Bedtime Story and faded badly.

Although some of the syndicate may be regretting turning down an offer from Japan of £2.2 million ($3 million) a few days before the Diane, her trainer Charlie Fellowes believes her day on the big stage will come.

The crowd and the sunshine will have been some succour to French racing chiefs amidst a time when falling betting revenue is forcing a tightening of belts.

The Diane has produced some superstars down the years of the calibre of the Aga Khan-owned Zarkava and Treve, both of whom went on to win Europe's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Whether Gezora reaches such heights remains to be be seen but on Sunday at least she was the queen of the "Sport of Kings" for a day.

"If she never does anything else so be it, she won the Diane," said Brant.

E.Choi--ThChM