Be Fabulous swept past Cavalryman with a furlong left to run and drew off to a convincing 1 3/4-length victory in the Prix Royal-Oak (Fr-I) at Longchamp Oct. 23.
The 4-year-old daughter of Samum provided trainer Andre Fabre with his seventh victory in the race, and his first since Amilynx won back-to-back renewals in 1999 and 2000.
A full field of 14 went to the post in the Royal-Oak, with slight favoritism going to Be Fabulous. The lightly-raced filly entered the contest off of consecutive victories, but was making the leap into group company for the first time in her career. Others lining up for the 15-furlong marathon were the 2010 winner Gentoo; Shankardeh, winner of the Qatar Prix Chaudenay (Fr-II) in her last start; and Godolphin’s hard-knocking Cavalryman, winless since capturing the 2009 Qatar Prix Niel (Fr-II).
At the start it was Electrolyser who went to the front under jockey Ioritz Mendizabal. They were tracked closely by Mickael Barzalona aboard Cavalryman, as Maxime Guyon was content to settle Be Fabulous in midfield during the early stages of the race.
Cavalryman eased to the front on the backstretch, and had opened up a slight lead on the field as the horses entered the home straight. Guyon had moved Be Fabulous into the clear on the outside and the filly charged down the center of the course, blowing by Cavalryman to take the lead.
Be Fabulous pulled away in the final yards, crossing the wire an easy winner. Miss Lago finished the best in a mad scramble for the minor placings, getting her head in front of Shankardeh to take second, with Tac De Boistron just a nose back in fourth.
Final time for the 15 furlongs was 3:21.47 over the good turf course.
Be Fabulous was bred in Germany by Gestut Karlshof, and is owned by Godolphin S.N.C., the French-based branch of Godolphin Racing. Be Fabulous is out of Bandeira, a winning daughter of Law Society. The bay filly is a full sister to Baila Me, winner of the 2008 Preis von Europa (Ger-I).