Douvan

Douvan (foaled 9 May 2010) is a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He was originally trained in France before moving to Ireland in the summer of 2014. After finishing second on his debut he won his remaining five races over hurdles including the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following year he was switched to steeplechasing and won all his six races over fences as a novice including the Racing Post Novice Chase, Arkle Novice Chase, Arkle Challenge Trophy, Maghull Novices' Chase and Ryanair Novice Chase. In the 2016-17 season he continued his unbeaten run in steeplechases by winning his first three starts, including the Grade One Paddy Power Cashcard Chase, before suffering his first defeat over fences when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Douvan
Racing silks of
F-X Chaussonniere and Susannah Ricci
SireWalk in the Park
GrandsireMontjeu
DamStar Face
DamsireSaint de Saints
SexGelding
Foaled9 May 2010[1]
CountryFrance
ColourBay
BreederHaras De La Faisanderie
OwnerFrancois-Xavier Chaussonniere
Susannah Ricci
TrainerPhilippe Peltier
Willie Mullins
Record19: 14-2-0
Earnings£609,835
Major wins
Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle (2015)
Supreme Novices' Hurdle (2015)
Herald Champion Novice Hurdle
Racing Post Novice Chase (2015)
Arkle Novice Chase (2016)
Arkle Challenge Trophy (2016)
Maghull Novices' Chase (2016)
Ryanair Novice Chase (2016)
Hilly Way Chase (2016)
Paddy Power Cashcard Chase (2016)
Tied Cottage Chase (2017)
Clonmel Oil Chase (2019)
Awards
Top-rated Steeplechaser (2016/17)
Last updated on 17 March 2017

Background

Douvan is a bay gelding bred in Oise, France by the Haras de la Faisanderie. He was sired by Walk in the Park who finished second in the 2005 Epsom Derby and later became a successful National Hunt sire in Ireland.[2] Douvan's dam Star Face was a descendant of the Irish broodmare Minnewaska, making her a distant relative of Ack Ack, Sham and Tom Rolfe.[3]

Douvan began his racing career in the ownership of Francois-Xavier Chaussonniere and was initially trained in France by Philippe Peltier.

Racing career

2014/15 National Hunt season: novice hurdles

On his racecourse debut, Douvan finished second to Konig Dax in a hurdle race over 1600 metres at Saint-Malo on 14 May 2014. Nineteen days later he recorded his first success in a similar event at Compiegne, taking the lead after the final flight of hurdles and winning by two and a half lengths.[4]

In the summer of 2014 Douvan was acquired by Rich and Susannah Ricci and was sent to Ireland to be trained by Willie Mullins. He made a successful first appearance for his new connections by winning a novice hurdle at Gowran Park on 22 November, beating Sizing John by twelve lengths at odds of 8/15. He was then stepped up in class for the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in January. He started at odds of 1/3 and won "very easily" by three and three quarter lengths from the Mouse Morris-trained Alpha des Obeaux.[5]

After an absence of two months, Douvan was sent to the Cheltenham Festival for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle on 10 March and started the 2/1 favourite in a twelve runner field. The best fancied of his opponents were the Tolworth Hurdle winner L'Ami Serge, the Champion INH Flat Race winner Shaneshill (also trained by Mullins) and the improving handicapper Jollyallen. Ridden by Ruby Walsh, Douvan was not among the early leaders as the outsider Some Plan set the pace before making steady progress from the third last hurdle. He took the lead approaching the last and drew away on the run-in to win by four and a half lengths from Shaneshill.[6] Walsh, who was winning the race for the third consecutive year, commented "he was plenty keen and I was probably in front soon enough but he kept going well and is a gorgeous horse. That's the first time he's had a race and you'd imagine he'll improve".[7] On his final appearance of the season Douvan, with Walsh again in the saddle, contested the Grade 1 Herald Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown on 28 April. Starting at odds of 1/6 he took the lead at the last and won "easily" by seven and a half lengths from Sizing John.[8] Mullins commented "He really flicks over his hurdles, you can’t see him rising. He’s an amazing athlete for the size and scope of him. He’s nearly 17 hands, a big, immature horse, and yet he can do all that".[9]

2015/16 National Hunt season: novice chases

In the 2015/16 National Hunt season Douvan was campaigned in novice steeplechases. On his first run over the larger obstacles he won at Navan Racecourse on 22 November, beating Rogue Trader by nine and a half lengths. With Ruby Walsh riding the stable's Vautour in England, Douvan was partnered by his trainer's son Patrick Mullins when he started 4/7 favourite for the Grade 1 Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown Racecourse on 26 December. He led for most of the way and recovered from some jumping errors to pull away from his rivals after the last and win by eighteen lengths.[10] Only two horses appeared to challenge Douvan in the Arkle Novice Chase over the same course and distance in January and the gelding won by fifteen lengths at odds of 1/14. After the race Willie Mullins said "He's so docile which means you can put him anywhere in a race when the time comes. It's as if he's just a different species. We don't know how good he is".[11]

On 15 March, Douvan made his second appearance at Cheltenham and was made the 1/4 favourite for the Arkle Challenge Trophy against six opponents. He took the lead at the third fence and was left without any serious challengers when the Nicky Henderson-trained Vaniteux fell when under pressure at the penultimate obstacle. Douvan quickly went clear and survived a mistake at the last to win by seven lengths from his old rival Sizing John.[12] At Aintree on 9 April he started the 2/13 favourite against four opponents in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices' Chase. After racing in second place he took the lead on the final turn and drew away over the last two fences to win by fourteen lengths from The Game Changer. Douvan ended his second season in the Ryanair Novice Chase at Punchestown on 28 April and started at odds of 2/9 against four opponents. On this occasion he led soon after the start and won by eleven lengths from The Game Changer.

Pedigree
Pedigree of Douvan (FR), bay gelding, 2010[1]
Sire
Walk in the Park (IRE)
2002		 Montjeu (IRE)
1996		 Sadler's Wells Northern Dancer
Fairy Bridge
Floripedes Top Ville
Toute Cy
Classic Park (GB)
1994		 Robellino Roberto
Isobelline
Wanton Kris
Brazen Faced
Dam
Star Face (FR)
2004		 Saint des Saints (FR)
1998		 Cadoudal Green Dancer
Come to Sea
Chamisene Pharly
Tuneria
Folie Star Gate (FR)
1997		 Saint Preuil Dom Pasquini
Montecha
Miss French Mistigri
Lise Belle (Family:9-h)[3]
gollark: I am not convinced that it's something you're actually likely to "learn from" given that it's fairly effective brain poison.
gollark: Somewhat bad, in my IMO opinion.
gollark: It's actually quaternionic.
gollark: To some extent I guess you could ship worse/nonexistent versions of some machinery and assemble it there, but a lot would be interdependent so I don't know how much. And you'd probably need somewhat better computers to run something to manage the resulting somewhat more complex system, which means more difficulty.
gollark: Probably at least 3 hard. Usefully extracting the many ores and such you want from things, and then processing them into usable materials probably involves a ton of different processes you have to ship on the space probe. Then you have to convert them into every different part you might need, meaning yet more machinery. And you have to do this with whatever possibly poor quality resources you find, automatically with no human to fix issues, accurately enough to reach whatever tolerances all the stuff needs, and have it stand up to damage on route.

References
  1. "Douvan pedigree". equineline.com. 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  2. "Walk In The Park - Stud Record". Racing Post.
  3. "Adelaide - Family 9-h". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  4. "Prix Karly Flight result". Racing Post. 3 June 2014.
  5. "Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle result". Timeform. 10 January 2015.
  6. "Supreme Novices Hurdle result". Timeform. 10 March 2015.
  7. James Burn (10 March 2015). "Hype horse Douvan gets Mullins and Walsh off to a flyer". Racing Post.
  8. "Herald Champion Novice Hurdle result". Timeform. 28 April 2015.
  9. Greg Wood (28 April 2015). "Douvan is brilliant winner of Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown". The Guardian.
  10. "Racing Post Novice Chase". Timeform. 26 December 2015.
  11. "Willie Mullins left in awe of 'different species' Douvan". Irish Independent. 24 January 2016.
  12. "Arkle Challenge Trophy result". Timeform. 15 March 2016.
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