Prix la Fleche Victress First Stakes Winner for Caravaggio

Leading freshman sire Caravaggio became the first North American freshman to sire a stakes winner on Sunday when Dizzy Bizu (2f Caravaggio x Izzy Bizu, by Kodiac) stayed undefeated in the Listed Prix la Fleche.

Racing against colts over five furlongs at Chantilly, Dizzy Bizu went straight to the lead and was among a trio battling to control the pace. The filly was a neck back with a furlong to go but as the others started to fade, she was just hitting her best stride and quickly took over.

Dizzy Bizu started to pull away from the field in the closing stages with only one horse close to her. In the end, the filly won by 1 ¾ lengths with the third placed runner three lengths behind the winner.

A homebred for Peter-David Savill, Dizzy Bizu is trained by Stephane Wattell and was winning her second start.

“Her dam was a precocious type, who won at Listed level as a 2-year-old, and at this stage she's all speed,” Wattell told Thoroughbred Daily News. “I trained for Mr. Savill some years ago, without getting the best results, but I think he has forgiven me. He now keeps his mares in France, this is a great result and I'm delighted for him. We will follow the programme and shall target the [G3] Prix du Bois and [G2] Prix Robert Papin. After that, we'll see.”

Dizzy Bizu is the third stakes winner under her granddam in addition to her own stakes winning dam Izzy Bizu and that one’s German champion half-brother Donnerschlag. The pair are also half-siblings to Group III-placed De Boss Man.

Blacktype runs throughout the generations for the juvenile with New Zealand Group I winner Platinum Witness and multiple Australian group winner Zennista under her third dam. Izzy Bizu has another filly by a Coolmore stallion right behind Dizzy Bizu, a yearling Gleneagles daughter.

Popular in the sales ring, Caravaggio’s first runners are living up to the hype on the track as one with the stallion having the third most winners of any Northern Hemisphere first crop sire. He is also one of only two Northern Hemisphere freshmen to have a stakes winner.