Watch Me (foaled 18 March 2016) is a French

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2018 she showed promise as she won the

Listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Criterium du Languedoc on the second of her two starts. In the following year she won the

Prix Imprudence The Prix Imprudence is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs) at Maisons-Laffitt ...

and recorded her biggest win when she took the

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

Coronation Stakes The Coronation Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 7 furlong and 213 yards (1,603 metres), and it is schedul ...

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

. In 2020 she was unbeaten in two starts, namely the Prix de la Calonne and the

Prix Rothschild The Prix Rothschild is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled ...

Background

Watch Me is a bay filly with a narrow white blaze bred in France by Antoinette Tamagni and Cocheese Bloodstock. In August 2017 the

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

filly was offered for sale at Deauville but failed to reach her

reserve price In economics, a reservation (or reserve) price is a limit on the price of a good or a service. On the demand side, it is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay; on the supply side, it is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept ...

of €30,000. She races in the colours of Tamagni's son Alexander Tamagni-Bodmer in partnership with Regula Vannod and was sent into training with Francis-Henri Graffard. The filly has been ridden in most of her races by Pierre-Charles Boudot. She was from the first crop of foals sired by

Olympic Glory Olympic Glory (foaled 27 March 2010) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading two-year-olds in Europe in 2012 when he won the Superlative Stakes, Vintage Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère. His only ...

, whose wins included the

Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère The Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, formerly the Grand Critérium, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1, ...

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is s ...

Lockinge Stakes The Lockinge Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) at Newbur ...

and

Prix de la Forêt The Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it is ...

. Watch Me's dam Watchful showed modest racing ability, winning two minor races from four starts as a three-year-old in 2007. She was a granddaughter of the

Prix Vermeille The Prix Vermeille is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), an ...

winner Sharaya making her a close relative of Shareta and Shawanda. She was descended from the British broodmare Aimee (foaled in 1957) whose other descendants have included

Blushing Groom Blushing Groom (8 April 1974 – 6 May 1992) was a French champion Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and sire (horse), sire. Background He was bred by American businessman John McNamee Sullivan and was raced by Aga Khan IV, HH Aga Khan IV. A ...

and King Kamehameha.

Racing career

2018: two-year-old season

Watch Me made her racecourse debut in a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

over 1600 meters at

Saint-Cloud Racecourse Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital ...

on 11 October and disputed the lead for most of the way before finishing third behind So Unique and Ouzala, beaten one and a half

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

by the winner. On 10 November she was stepped up in class for the

Criterium du Languedoc over the same distance at Toulouse and went off at odds of 4.7/1 in a field of eight colts and fillies. Racing on heavy ground she recovered from a poor start to take the lead inside the final furlong and won "comfortably" by one and a quarter lengths from Go To Hollywood.

2019: three-year-old season

On 10 April 2019 Watch Me began her second campaign in the Listed Prix Imprudence over 1400 metres at

Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse The Hippodrome de Maisons-Laffitte at 1 avenue de la Pelouse in the northwestern Parisian suburb of Maisons-Laffitte in France was a grass, turf horse racing facility and Hippodrome, track for Thoroughbred flat racing. Opened in 1878 by Joseph Olle ...

in which she was partnered by

Christophe Soumillon Christophe Soumillon (born 4 June 1981) is a Belgian jockey based in France. Career Coming from a racing background, Soumillon is the son of jump jockey Jean-Marc Soumillon. He rode in pony races and left Belgium aged fifteen to go to the racing ...

and started the 5.8/1 third choice in a field of seven. After being restrained in the early stages she made progress in the last 400 metres overtook the favourite Suphala in the closing stages and won by a short neck. The filly was ridden by

Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier (born 12 January 1973 in Château-Gontier) is a French thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races. He was a retained jockey ...

when she was moved up to the highest class for the

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) at ...

over 1600 metres at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tr ...

on 12 May. She appeared to be making good progress when she was hampered in the closing stages and came home sixth of the ten runners behind Castle Lady. In June Watch Me was sent to England and started a 20/1 outsider for the Coronation Stakes over one mile at

. Hermosa started favourite, while the other seven runners included Castle Lady,

Pretty Pollyanna Pretty Pollyanna (foaled 25 February 2016) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2018 she was one of the best fillies of her generation in Europe, winning the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and the Prix Morny. Background Prett ...

and the undefeated Jubiloso. After tracking the leaders, Boudot sent Watch Me into the lead approaching the final furlong and the French filly kept on well to defeat Hermosa by one and a half lengths. Her victory was enthusiastically celebrated by a contingent of flag-waving French supporters. Graffard said "She traveled really nicely, and I shouted a lot... I worked six years in England, so I always said to myself, 'I need to come here and win a big race.' I've tried before, but today is just amazing. I love this filly. I always thought she was very good, and it's incredible". Watch Me returned to the track in August for the

Prix Jacques Le Marois The Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile ...

Deauville Racecourse Hippodrome Deauville-La Touques is a race track for thoroughbred horse racing located in Deauville in the Calvados département, in the Normandy ''région'' of France. Originally called Hippodrome de la Touques, it was named for the Touques River t ...

, a race which saw her matched against older horses for the first time. She was made the 2.1/1 favourite but was unable to quicken in the closing stages and finished fourth behind

Romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

, Shaman and

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural television series created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions. On 26 June 2012, BBC Two began to broadcast the first series; it was its best-performing drama series in ten years wit ...

, beaten just over two and a half lengths by the winner. After another break the filly contested the

Prix de l'Opéra The Prix de l'Opéra is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it ...

over 2000 metres at Longchamp on 6 October in which she was repeatedly denied a clear run in the straight before coming home third behind Villa Marina and Fleeting.

2020: four-year-old season

The flat racing season in Europe was restructured as a result of the

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and Watch Me made her first appearance in the Listed Prix de la Calonne which was run over 1600 metres behind closed doors at Deauville on 12 July. Starting the odds-on favourite against seven opponents she produced her "trademark kick" of acceleration to take the lead 400 metres from the finish and won by two and a half lengths from the 36/1 outsider Norma. Graffard commented: "I was very happy with her performance. I thought she had trained on well from three to four, she was training well and was happy to be back at the races – it was the perfect comeback." Three weeks after her win in the Prix de la Calonne, Watch Me started the 0.7/1 favourite for the Group 1

over the same course and distance. Her five opponents were Summer Romance (

Princess Elizabeth Stakes The Princess Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile and 113 yards (1,713 m ...

), Speak of the Devil (runner-up in the 2020 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches), Half Light ( Hamburger Stutenmeile), Know It All ( Derrinstown Stud Fillies Stakes) and Norma. Watch Me was settled in third place by Boudot before breaking through a narrow gap on the inside to take the lead approaching the last 200 metres and winning by three quarters of a length and a short head from Half Light and Know It All. After the race Boudot said: "She showed herself to be tenacious and a fighter. She's a filly that stays 2,000 meters, and that told in the final strides. We had a bit of luck because if I'd had to take back and come round, that would have made life pretty difficult. She's done it well today, and it's great to have her back at this level." Five days after the Prix Rothschild Graffard announced that Watch Me had been retired from racing. He said "I wasn't completely happy with how she came out of the race. We spoke to the owners and we decided together that we should respect the filly y retiring her It was a good way for her to finish – she proved she's a very good filly."

Pedigree

*Watch Me was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

4 × 4 to Shirley Heights, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

References

{{Reflist 2016 racehorse births Racehorses bred in France Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 22-d