Wooded denies Glass Slippers in bid for Abbaye repeat

Ryan ace has to settle for gallant second place.

Glass Slippers was narrowly denied a second successive win in the Prix de l’Abbaye as Wooded landed the prize on just his second run over five furlongs.

Kevin Ryan’s filly was aiming to become the first since Lochsong to win the Abbaye twice – but a draw in stall 10 made Tom Eaves’ task all the more difficult.

Glass Slippers broke well, though, and Eaves was able to get a prominent position on the outside and looked to have every chance.

But Wooded made full advantage of stall two and Pierre-Charles Boudot got a dream run throughout on the rail.

Entering the final furlong Frankie Dettori appeared to be going as well as anything on John Quinn’s Liberty Beach, but the very testing ground just took its toll close home.

Just as Wooded appeared to have seen off her main contender, Glass Slippers came with one last lunge, determined to hold on to her crown, but she had to admit a brave defeat.

The win capped a great weekend for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, who won the Prix Daniel Wildenstein with The Revenant on Saturday and went close in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe itself with In Swoop.

He told Sky Sports Racing: “He’s a horse I’ve always loved. We missed Ascot because of the lockdown and Covid. It was difficult to organise it. I was upset because I knew he was going to run very well in the Commonwealth Cup.

“Then I struggled with the trip. There were no races for him over six furlongs over the summer. We decided we needed to race him and toughen him up for next year because we have a nice sprinter on our hands.

“The only question was the ground. He is much better on fast ground. He worked on Monday. Pierre-Charles said he wasn’t the same horse on soft ground. Again we decided to run because I want to toughen him up for next year.

“It’s a brilliant victory – he went on soft today because he’s a very good horse.”

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Henri Graffard Prix De L'abbaye Wooded

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