Graffard: Amusingly ‘has the quality’ to topple Sun Goddess

Francis-Henri Graffard believes Amusingly has the class to beat Sun Goddess in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, provided things fall right for the Lagardère winner around Keeneland’s tight mile.

The Juddmonte filly became only the third filly to beat the colts in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère at ParisLongchamp, and Graffard said the Breeders’ Cup was the obvious next step. “She’s a wonderful filly, and her win at Longchamp was just incredible, beautiful to watch,” he told Nick Luck at Keeneland. “She seems to have travelled really well. She has a lot of quality.”

He expects a tough race, with Aidan O’Brien’s Sun Goddess and Joseph O’Brien’s Boussac winner Green Empress, who has the rail draw. “It’s going to be a hard race,” he said. “I’m glad Colin [Keane] knows her now, because she can be a bit keen and she needs everything to go her way. But she has the quality to win a race like that. I hope she doesn’t have to produce her turn of foot too early.”

Map Of Stars gets his chance

Wathnan Racing’s Map Of Stars, the Wolferton winner at Royal Ascot, has made the Turf field from the also-eligible list, though he faces a wide draw in 14. “I know he hasn’t won a Group 1, but his form is very strong,” Graffard said. “He needs a strong pace, like we had at Royal Ascot, when he was relaxed and could produce a very strong turn of foot. Last year there was a lot of pace and Ethical Diamond won the race, so anything is possible at the Breeders’ Cup.”

Graffard also runs Primetime Emmy, an Australian-bred filly who has now raced on three continents, in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. “She looks wonderful,” he said. “Draw 12 out of 12 again is not ideal, but it’s worth a shot, and we have nothing to lose.”

“I love this meeting. When I started training, I always tried to find horses to come over and be competitive at the Breeders’ Cup.”

Francis-Henri Graffard

‘A Formula One stable’

Graffard has followed his record-breaking 2025 with another huge season, and admitted he had felt the pressure. “I was a little bit stressed, to be fair, because the bar was very high,” he said. “Lisa, my wife, said to me, ‘Don’t put pressure on yourself, just do your job well and focus on your horses.’ And again the planets aligned.”

“That’s what I was really dreaming of: having a string of top-class horses, a Formula One stable, and being competitive at the top level,” he said. Since taking over the Aga Khan’s horses, he has run the operation his way. “As a trainer, you need to make decisions. I want the power to make my decisions and the responsibility for them. Racing has changed, and you need to be fit and competitive.”

Of all last year’s big wins, it was Gezora’s success in the Filly & Mare Turf that drew the biggest reaction. “I love this meeting,” he said. “Last year I had four runners and it didn’t go the way I wanted, and Gezora was the last of the day. She was nothing to look at physically, but she had a big heart. I was with my family, and we just enjoyed a bit of shouting.”