Paris Dixie Profile

Written on 15 May 2020

When Paris Dixie was offered to Owners Group after winning a National Hunt Flat race (bumper) at Carlisle in February 2019, she looked to be a budding Jumping prospect. Sadly, Paris Dixie has not been able to race since then due to injury, but she is now back moving well and has recently resumed cantering. The form of Paris Dixie's races has worked out well, and offers plenty of encouragement for when she hopefully returns to the course this autumn.

Starting with Paris Dixie's pedigree, she was bred by the Camacho family at Star Cottage Stud from a family they had known for decades. Paris Dixie's dam, Last Of The Dixies, was out of Dixie Favor, an American-bred broodmare who won three races on the Flat in Ireland. Last Of The Dixies was unraced, but was a half-sister to six individual winners, the most important being her dam's 2001 foal, River Belle.

As a juvenile, River Belle won her first two races at Ascot for trainer Alan Jarvis, including the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes. As a three-year-old, River Belle continued her career with Todd Pletcher in the US, after failing to make an impact in either the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes or the Group 1 Fillies' Mile; in the States she won the Grade 2 Mrs Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs and was narrowly beaten in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. As a broodmare, River Belle has produced four winners, including Strathnaver, a Grade 3 winner in the US. River Belle's progeny have since sold for up to a staggering 775,000gns at auction.

Another of Last Of The Dixies' half-sisters, Kiralik, was trained in Italy and won a Listed race at Capannelle, as well as finishing third in the 2003 Italian 1,000 Guineas, the Group 2 Premio Regina Elena.

Closer to home, Last Of The Dixies' half-brother, Rio Riva, remained at Star Cottage to be trained by Julie Camacho, for whom he won five races. Rio Riva's finest hour was when finishing fourth in the Lincoln, one of the toughest handicaps of the entire season, over the straight mile course at Doncaster.

Julie also trained Favorisio to win five races for owners Elite Racing Club (who owned broodmare Dixie Favor at the time), as well as Dixie Favor's first winning progeny, Stately Favour, who won at Southwell in 1998. This win was significant as it also provided Elite Racing Club with the first winner of its breeding programme that has since yielded eight Group 1 wins, amongst more than 100 homebred wins.

Last Of The Dixies' last winning sibling is Currahee, who has won four races over Jumps. He has won from 2m on heavy ground to 3m on good ground, proving his versatility.

Paris Dixie is by Champs Elysees, who raced for Juddmonte Stud founder Prince Khalid Abdullah. Champs Elysees started his career in France with Andre Fabre, for whom he won the third start of his career, before finishing unplaced in the Prix Du Jockey Club (the French Derby). Champs Elysees was placed twice at Group 3 level as a three-year-old, but it was the following year he really excelled. Champs Elysees won the Prix d'Hedouville in the spring of 2007, before being beaten a nose in the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil. He was then placed in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville and the Group 1 Gran Premio Del Jockey Club in Italy, before crossing the Atlantic to join the legendary trainer Bobby Frankel in America (whom the mighty Frankel is named after).

This began a new chapter for Champs Elysees, as he finished second in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup on his US debut in December 2007, before lifting the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita a month later. In the late summer of 2008, Champs Elysees won his first Grade 1 race, the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes at Woodbine, and three months later won a second Grade 1 when landing the Hollywood Turf Cup. Champs Elysees' final win came in the 2009 Canadian International at Woodbine, after which he was retired and returned to his owner's Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket. During his career, Champs Elysees won six of his 28 races and over £1.5m in prize money. He stood at Banstead Manor from 2010 to 2016, before ending his career at Castle Hyde Stud in Ireland, where he stood for €6,500 until he passed away in 2018.

Champs Elysees' best progeny include the 2018 1,000 Guineas winner, Billesdon Brook, who, after her Classic win, perhaps recorded her greatest achievement on the track when winning the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes last autumn. In doing so she defeated Falmouth Stakes winner, Veracious, six times Group 1 winner Laurens, dual 1,000 Guineas winner Hermosa and subsequent Breeders' Cup winner, Iridessa. Champs Elysees' biggest prize money-winner is Harlem, who has won two Group 1 races in Australia. Other big winners include 2015 Ascot Gold Cup winner, Trip To Paris, 2017 Cesarewitch and 2018 Northumberland Plate winner Withhold, and the 2018 Cesarewitch winner, Low Sun.

Returning to Paris Dixie, we contacted Steve Brown, Julie Camacho's assistant trainer, to ask what occurred in a Flat race at Newcastle in July 2018, when she was withdrawn before the start. Steve kindly shed light on the fact that Paris Dixie has only had issues with one thing in her life, and that was entering the stalls from the rear (as normal). In practice, Paris Dixie was only happy to enter the stalls from the front, being reversed into her compartment. Once loaded, she was totally content, and was happy to jump out normally when her stall opened.

Unbeknown to Steve and Julie at the time, horses must complete a stalls test before attending the races, if they wish to enter the stalls in this manner. As Paris Dixie had not taken a stalls test, she was made to attempt to enter the stalls from the rear. She refused to do so, hence she was withdrawn.

As Paris Dixie had not participated in a Flat race, she remained eligible to run in bumpers, where no starting stalls are required. Paris Dixie made her racing debut at Huntingdon in October 2018, in a 1m 5f+ junior bumper, and finished towards the rear. Ridden by Graham Lee, she was too keen to do herself justice and showed her inexperience by running around, especially when coming under pressure entering the home straight. At one stage, she looked as though she would stay on in the final two furlongs, but her earlier exertions meant she tired to finish tenth.

Julie's horses usually improve with each race in the early stages of their career, and Paris Dixie was no different. Starting at 125/1 for her second start in a similar contest at Carlisle the following month, Paris Dixie ran a blinder to finish third. She was ridden much closer to the pace by Henry Brooke, which helped her to turn into the home straight (which is all uphill) in a challenging position. Paris Dixie responded well for a reminder from Henry, staying on well to chase home some decent horses. The winner, Alright Sunshine, has won seven of his 11 races to date, including three of his four bumpers and four races on the Flat. After winning a novice race in May 2019, Alright Sunshine progressed to win at Ripon in July, from a mark of 84, and at Musselburgh from a mark of 88, before being beaten a head in the Old Borough Cup at Haydock off a rating of 93. Alright Sunshine finished the season by winning at Ayr last September from a rating of 97.

At Carlisle, Book Of Invasions finished runner-up, before winning next time out at Doncaster. He progressed to finished third in a Listed bumper at Cheltenham, and has since won over hurdles at Huntingdon. The fourth-placed Beast Of Belstane won a Sedgefield bumper in January 2019, while the fifth-placed Bergamot won a bumper at Ludlow in April 2019. Looking further back, the sixth-placed Conchita won next time out at Wetherby, while the seventh-placed Stormin Norman has won a Market Rasen bumper and two handicaps on the Flat since this race.

Paris Dixie next lined up at Newcastle on 5 January 2019, where she contested a mares' bumper over 2m on the all-weather. Ridden by Danny McMenamin in this race for conditional jockeys and amateur riders, Paris Dixie jumped off last at the start and travelled well through the contest. She was pushed along three furlongs from home and stayed on at one pace, without ever really challenging the leaders. Once again, this was a pretty good race. The winner, Zakharova, won her next start, a valuable Class 3 contest at Kelso, but has not raced since. The runner-up, Bravantina, eventually won a handicap on the Flat over the same course and distance, but is no star. Even the fifth-placed Summer Lightening progressed to win two hurdle races at Catterick the following season, suggesting this race was above average.

Paris Dixie then returned to Carlisle in February 2019. On this occasion, she was jumped off in the lead by Sean Quinlan, for whom she travelled well, setting a moderate pace on the very stiff course. Paris Dixie looked vulnerable three furlongs from home as her opponents ranged upsides, but she battled on well and kept up her momentum, as the steep gradient of Carlisle's home straight began to kick in. At the post, Paris Dixie was an easy winner, taking full advantage of her age allowance for being just four years old.

Looking back through the form, the runner-up, Aurora Thunder developed into a consistent mare who won over hurdles at Ayr in October 2019. The third-placed Stainsby Girl has been placed in all but one of her races since, and won a mares' novices' hurdle earlier this year. Also, the sixth-placed Red Reminder has won twice at Sedgefield over hurdles since this race at Carlisle, again suggesting Paris Dixie could be of above-average ability.

After this race, Paris Dixie was purchased by Owners Group and sent to six-times champion trainer, Nicky Henderson. Nicky was delighted with Paris Dixie when first setting eyes on her, and reported that although her schooling was very good, he felt it was worth contesting the Grade 2 mares' bumper at last year's Grand National meeting at Aintree. Nicky reported Paris Dixie worked well leading up to the race and was declared to run, but she was sadly balloted out, as a full field of twenty runners took part. As it happened, consistent heavy rain through the day turned conditions very testing, which may not have been to Paris Dixie's liking.

As she was unable to run at Aintree, Paris Dixie was then sent to EquiPrep for a summer break, as she had been in training all through the winter. Paris Dixie was a pleasure to have at EquiPrep, and enjoyed her break before returning to Seven Barrows in August of last year. After settling back into the routine so well, Nicky thought she would be one of his first runners of the season, when reporting at the beginning of October, but she started to look dull in her coat a few weeks later. A blood test and tracheal wash revealed nothing sinister going on, and her wellbeing began to show at the start of November.

Sadly, at the end of November, Paris Dixie shuffled out of her stable one day, with the vet soon diagnosing a fracture of the pelvis as the cause of her discomfort. Paris Dixie was then placed on box rest over Christmas, before starting some very gentle walking in the New Year. After spending time on the horse walker, Paris Dixie briefly moved to Colin Tinkler's pre-training yard outside Lambourn to start some trotting, but she has now returned to Seven Barrows.

Paris Dixie has just started cantering, and we are delighted to report she is moving well. Nicky is restricting her to his flat gallop, which has a deep sand surface to help strengthen her muscles and stamina. Paris Dixie is obviously only going very slowly at the moment, and once she strengthens up, she can progress to the hill gallop. Nicky reports that the vet has made an interesting observation about Paris Dixie; as she fractured both sides of her pelvis, her quarters have remained symmetrical, meaning her body should build evenly as her strength and muscle tone improves.

Quite often, a single fracture of the pelvis can result in horses becoming unlevel behind the saddle, which can put pressure on the forelimbs (especially the leg 'on the diagonal', or on the opposite side to the weaker quarter). Building up evenly will give Paris Dixie the best chance of remaining sound and moving well, which we hope will continue to be the case.

Returning to Steve Brown's advice, he thinks Paris Dixie will improve with age as she strengthens up, as she is a thorough stayer who has a very good temperament. Steve felt Paris Dixie was very immature when he and Julie trained her, and is hopeful she will develop into an exciting young Jumps horse, hence he recommended her to Owners Group. We have faith that Steve and Nicky are right and there is plenty more to come from Paris Dixie, so let's hope the lockdown can end soon and racing can return in Britain.

With Jumps racing aiming to recommence from July onwards, we hope there will be many opportunities for Paris Dixie next season. Nicky plans to go hurdling with Paris Dixie, who schools really well and looks a real athlete; she will have options in races confined to her sex, whilst also being eligible for maiden or novices' hurdles. We look forward to hearing about Paris Dixie's training this summer and hope it continues to go well. Let's hope it won't be long before life can return to normal, and Paris Dixie can return to the course and begin to fulfil her undoubted potential.