First Group Winner for Churchill Heading to French Derby

A homebred for the Aga Khan, exciting three year-old colt Vadeni (3c Churchill x Vaderana , by Monsun) was a Listed winner last season at two and showed he was ready for another successful year when taking out the Group III Prix de Guiche (1800m) at Chantilly.

Trained by Jean-Claud Rouget, the son of Churchill was a good fifth at his first run of the year last month and was a short priced favourite for this assignment, racing away to win by more than two lengths.

Vadeni has three wins from five starts and is entered for the Group I French Derby.

“The pacemaker [Kotari] did a great job and, watching the race, I was awfully confident,” Jean-Claude Rouget said after the race.

“Vadeni was perfectly relaxed and that's want you want with him. He's not complicated, he just needs to be in the right rhythm and ridden from behind. In the Prix de Conde last year, I feel that Christophe [Soumillon] put him in the race too soon and committed too early.

“He had run a good race in the Fontainebleau (last start), that was just to get him going again and we already had this race in mind. I think it is the perfect prep for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), nine furlongs before stretching to the 10 1/2 furlongs. I have won it many times, including with Almanzor, and the timing is perfect.”

Vadeni is a half-brother to two stakes-placed horses and is the best of five winners from winning Monsun mare Vaderana, a half-sister to Group winners Vadamar and The Pentagon from Group I winner Vadawina.

Standing this spring at a fee of $22,000, Churchill has sired four stakes-winners in the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia has left promising Sydney metro winners Robusto and Conqueror.