Flaxman Homebred Wins Again for Caravaggio

It was a second straight victory for Caravaggio’s Flaxman Stables runner Spell on You (3f Caravaggio x Nature Spirits, by Beat Hollow) Thursday in France when the filly won at Le Mans.

Stretching out to just under 1 ½ miles for the first time, Spell On You broke strongly and volunteered to control the pace with her ears up. She encountered her first serious pressure as the field turned into the stretch but the filly was just waiting for an excuse to find another gear and always kept at least half a length between her and the challenger.

In the end, the Niarchos-bred won by three quarters of a length for trainer Andre Fabre.

As to be expected coming from such a prestigious breeding program, Spell On You is a blue-blooded runner. She is a half-sister to stakes winner Ghostwatch and stakes-placed Forever Be out of the stakes winning Nature Spirits. Nature Spirits herself is a three-quarter sister to Group II winner Curtain Call and multiple stakes winner Launched.

The filly’s granddam is also a half-sister to champion and multiple Group I winner Hernando, Grade I winner Johann Quartz, and others.

Nature Spirits has a Starspangledbanner yearling colt.

Standing his second season at Ashford this year, Caravaggio’s first Irish-bred crop has yielded eight stakes performers and four stakes winners led by Group I winner Tenebrism, who holds an entry in this weekend’s Group I 1000 Guineas.