Rougir became the second G1 winner of the afternoon for the owner-trainer combination of Peter Brant and Chad Brown when she crossed the line first by a hard-fought neck to take the G1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, 8 October.
It was the second Graded Stakes win of the year for the four-year-old daughter of Territories, who captured the G3 Beaugay in May.
Ridden patiently by jockey Kazushi Kimura, Rougir was settled near of the rear of the field early but was only about three lengths off the front runner, Adventuring. Heading into the far turn, Rougir had to steady as a rival came out in front of her, forcing her to check and costing her two or three lengths. Now caught several paths wide, Rougir once again began a run, closing ground relentlessly on Adventuring as the finish line loomed closer. Rougir found her best stride late, getting up in the shadow of the wire to post a neck victory.
Rougir was bred in France by Jan Krauze and is out of the Stakes-placed Elusive City mare Summer Moon, who hails from the extended family of Kahyasi and Key Change.
Rougir is one of Territories highly rated Stakes winners that also includes Hoo Ya Mal (Timeform 119), Irish Stakes-winning sprinter Teresa Mendoza (Timeform 112) and the highly rated Aldaary (Timeform 124). With an average of 118.3 he leads all active GB or IRE stallions at the same point in time (see table below).
Also on Saturday, Territories' promising two-year-old son Grey's Monument added a second eye-catching win to his record when landing a competitive one-mile nursery at York by six lengths. Having also posted a wide-margin victory at Haydock last month, the Ralph Beckett-trained colt looks to be a Black Type performer in the making.
