Charyn Electric In Group 1 QEII At Ascot
Roger Varian’s Charyn capped a near perfect season yesterday at Ascot by adding a Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes victory to his Gr.1 Queen Anne Stakes and Gr.1 Prix Jacques Le Marois successes to cement his status as the champion miler in the process. The four-year-old son of Dark Angel, who runs in the colours of Nurlan Bizakov, was sent off the well fancied 13/8 favourite in the 12-runner field which also included the French-raider Facteur Cheval, David Menuisier’s Gr.1 Sun Chariot Stakes victrix Tamfana and Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore’s Henry Longfellow. The colt broke from stall eight and raced prominently down the far side in the hands of Sylvestre de Sousa as both Henry Longfellow and Prague seemed to do too much on the front end. He was travelling powerfully and got to the front two furlongs from home, closely tracked by Facteur Cheval, who loomed up from the rear of the field, before soon getting the better of that rival inside the final furlong and going on to win by two lengths as they pulled well clear of the rest of the pack. Tamfana finished a further four and a quarter lengths adrift back in third Charyn was providing Varian with a second success in this prestigious contest following Bayside Boy’s win in 2022 and speaking after the race he said:
“Charyn is a super horse and that was fantastic. Everything went very smooth, and it was a lovely race to watch. Silvestre got me a bit nervous! He just sat comfortable and you could see the second coming [Facteur Cheval], and then Charyn had to get to work and he showed his battling qualities. He’s got everything that horse.” He continued by discussing what the future plans for his stable star may be and said: “He will be a stallion for Nurlan Bizakov’s stud operation in France. I, of course, would love him to stay in training, but I think that’s not going to be the case. We’ll have to see how he comes out of this race, we might just contemplate one more international run.”
Twice a winner as a two-year-old, Charyn failed to get his head in front in seven starts as a three-year-old but was placed twice behind Paddington at the top-level. He has enjoyed a stellar four-year-old campaign, which now includes five black-type wins, three of those in Gr.1 company, as well as two closeseconds in the Gr.1 Lockinge Stakes and the Gr.1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. Bred by Granemore Stud, he is a full-brother to the Gr.2 Mill Reef Stakes winner Wings Of War and they are out of the two time winner and three-times Listed-placed Futoon, a half-sister to three other winners. The second dam is the two-time winner Vermilliann, a full-sister to the Gr.2 Mill Reef Stakes winner and Gr.1 Golden Jubilee Stakes-placed sire Galeota, as well as a half-sister to the Listed winner Loulwa.
Charyn cemented Dark Angel’s rise to leading sire in Ireland and GB and currently leads the stallion table by £391,186 in prize money earnings.
