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| Staff Writer |
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The team behind Deryan (FR) are hoping for more big race success with their seven-year-old, who had travelled like the winner of last year’s The Obaiya Arabian Classic presented by Lexus before tiring in the final 300m to finish fifth.
Trained by Didier Guillemin in Mont de Marsan in the south-west of France, the following month Deryan and his regular partner Ioritz Mendizabal flew to Dubai for the Kahayla Classic. It had been a close call, as after their disappointment in Saudi Arabia, they were not confident that the horse really liked the dirt. However, Thierry Delegue, racing manager for the French arm of his owner YAS Horse Racing Management, was convinced that their horse should take his chance.
The gamble paid off with a smooth win in Dubai’s most valuable dirt race for Arabians and added a second Group 1PA win to Deryan’s scoresheet. Deryan also broke the track record and beat Mubasher Al Khalediah and Mutwakel Al Khalediah, who had finished first and second in the Obaiya.
This was Guillemin’s biggest success since The Right Man was a shock 20-1 winner in Dubai in 2017 and continued the connection with Delegue, as he is the manager of Pegase Bloodstock, owner of that smart sprinter.
Since 2020 when Deryan finished second in the UK’s most valuable race for Arabians at the Goodwood Festival, Didier’s daughter Clemence has been Deryan’s dedicated overseas companion. Not an easy task as despite being the trainer’s daughter, since completing her public law studies she has worked in France Galop’s ownership department in Paris.
She uses her holidays to travel with the striking liver chestnut, to whom she is clearly devoted saying: "Though he is a stallion, he doesn’t bite. It’s a real pleasure to ride and care for him."
It leads to a busy lifestyle. Flying from Paris to Bordeaux on a Thursday, she rides Deryan on Friday morning, over the weekend, and on Monday, before catching her return flight to work back in the French capital.
"I know him perfectly and my father loves him too," she smiles. "When I’m not there, it’s my father who rides him in his work."
Guillemin is well qualified to deputise for his daughter having ridden over 400 winners as a jockey. Mendizabal takes over on the course and he has forged a great partnership on a horse that had gained a reputation for stopping once in front.
His trainer believes Deryan is more relaxed than last year and his daughter thinks he is in the same form that saw him win in Dubai. His racing manager agrees saying: "We come to Riyadh with big ambitions!"