Face Time Bourbon: A Champion.
The crowd at the grass track of Montier-en-Der on the 20th of August 2017 were completely unaware that they had witnessed not one, but two future Group One winners in the two-year-old Prix de la Société de Reims. There were only three PMU races on the card and the focus was predominantly on the Grand Prix de la Ville de Montier, the fifteenth leg of the Trophee Vert. As Face Time Bourbon and Feeling Cash crossed the line in first and second, spectators would have been surprised to learn that they were present at the birth of a super-star.
Face Time Bourbon was bred by Haras Saint Martin, the first raced foal out of Love You mare Vita Bourbon. As a full-sister to G2 Prix Queila Gédé (2700m) winner Scala Bourbon, Vita Bourbon was kept for breeding purposes and never reached the racetrack. Face Time Bourbon's maternal grand-dam Etta Extra was an exceptional broodmare. Each one of her ten raced offspring won, headed by G1 Prix des Elites (2200m) victor Mara Bourbon and G1 Criterium Continental (2100m) heroine Qualita Bourbon. Face Time Bourbon was destined for great things but how far could he go?
A lengthy juvenile campaign was curtailed by a minor injury in 2017 and Face Time Bourbon returned in May 2018 at Vincennes for the Class C Prix Lubussa (2200m). The easy manner of his victory suggested a Group race was within his grasp before the end of the three-year-old campaign and the colt duly delivered with a comfortable victory in a wet G1 Critérium des 3 Ans (2700m) in December. In any normal training establishment, Face Time Bourbon would have been considered the super-star of the yard but the three-year-old had big shoes to fill. His stable-mate Bold Eagle had completed the G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m) double in 2017 and was denied a historic treble when nose-to-nose at the line with Readly Express in 2018. It was a cruel twist of fate that trainer Sebastien Guarato would be deprived of the opportunity to gain redemption in 2022.
Face Time Bourbon suffered two defeats in an otherwise perfect 2019 campaign. The first came at the hands of long-shot Falcao de Laurma in the G2 Prix de Tonnac-Villeneuve (2175m) at Vincennes and the second on his first trip to Italy. Italian star Zacon Gio managed to deny Face Time Bourbon by a short margin in the Premio Unione Europea at Modene and would do so again in 2020 G1 Gran Premio Lotteria Finale (1600m). Face Time Bourbon finished off the year with a victory in the G1 Criterium Continental (2100m), automatically qualifying for the 2020 G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m).
Stable-mate Bold Eagle was not the force of old and could only manage tenth behind the young pretender in the big race. Face Time Bourbon had to fight hard in the closing stages to see off favourite Davidson du Pont, a duel which would be recreated many times over the next couple of years. The placings were reversed when the pair met two weeks later in the G1 Prix de France (2100m) and the rivalry was firmly established. International travel beckoned for the G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m) winner yet his old adversary Zacon Gio denied him a second Italian Group One when taking the G1 Gran Premio Lotteria Finale (1600m) in October.
After the defeat in Italy, it was all systems go for back-to-back G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m) victories. Face Time Bourbon qualified with a nose win in the G2 Prix de Bourgogne (2100m) and started a short-price favourite for the big race. In the week preceding, trainer Sébastian Guarato had remarked his stable-star had the temperament and professionalism to record his second Grand Prix d'Amerique and the confidence was justified. In a scene which replicated 2020, Face Time Bourbon came alongside Davidson du Pont in the final straight and secured victory. Yet again, Face Time Bourbon would fall short in the G1 Grand Prix de France (2100m), this time conceding the win to Delia du Pommereux.
The fall-out from the G1 Prix de France (2100m) defeat would be a turning point in Face Time Bourbon's career. He had been partnered in all career races by driver Bjorn Goop but the decision was made by his owner Antonio Somma to find a new driver for the champion. Trainer Sébastian Guarato was presented with five names and chose Eric Raffin, ironically the winning driver of Delia du Pommereux in the G1 Prix de France (2100m). Face Time Bourbon was defeated in Italy again when second in the qualifier for the G1 Gran Premio Lotteria Finale (1600m) but redeemed himself by reversing form in the final. It was an important victory for his Italian owner.
Preparation for a historic third G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m) followed a different path with connections choosing to start the Vincennes Winter Meeting with a win in the G2 Prix de Bretagne (2700m). It could be argued that Face Time Bourbon failed to show his usual sparkle in the subsequent G2 Prix du Bourbonnais (2850m) and was passed by Etonnant in the dying strides. Despite the defeat, it was hard to see the champion failing to complete a third victory in the G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m). He was capable of beating old adversaries such as Etonnant and Davidson du Pont and the younger generation were not showing the level of form required to defeat the seven-year-old.
On Tuesday 25th January, it was announced via social media that Face Time Bourbon would not partake in the 2022 G1 Grand Prix d'Amerique (2700m) due to a navicular problem and his retirement to stud was confirmed forty-eight hours later. His race record was outstanding – thirty-five wins from forty-three starts including seventeen Group One victories and a total prize money €3,392,880 internationally. The seven-year-old had certainly come a long way from a win on grass at Montier-en-Der in August 2017.
