Darasim Romps in Deauville Marathon

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British invader Darasim, getting the most from a crafty ride by Joe Fanning, provided a front-running romp in the marathon 1 7/8-mile Prix Kergorlay (Fr-II) at Deauville Sunday.

Darasim, off at 16-1, capped a huge weekend for trainer Mark Johnston, whose Pearls of Love won the Galileo Futurity Stakes (Ire-II) at The Curragh Saturday.

In getting the better of some of Europe's top jockeys, Fanning moved Darasim to the lead in the nine-horse field after a half-mile, pushed the 5-year-old Kahyasi gelding along to the straight and then kicked away under strong urging to win by a convincing five lengths. Westerner, ridden by Dominique Boeuf, was second, a nose better than Swing Wing and Olivier Peslier. Clety, ridden by Thierry Thulliez, was fourth. The final time was 3:14.6 on good to soft going.

After setting sensible fractions through the opening mile of the 15-furlong test, Fanning, earning a reputation for his ability as a front-running jockey, asked Darasim for a burst at the head of the straight.

"Joe rode a brilliant race and realized the ground was no worse on the rail than it was further out," Johnston told The Racing Post. "He is very good if he gets his own way and this was a big step up in class. It was a brilliant race and by far his best race."

Markus Graff owns Darasim, who was bred in Ireland by the HH Aga Kahn's Studs.

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