Nathaniel sired his second Classic winner when Channel won the Gr.1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly today.

After a strong ride from Pierre-Charles Boudot this three-year-old filly led approaching the final furlong and gamely stayed on under pressure to claim victory.

A first Classic triumph for trainer Francis Graffard, he said: “When I saw the way she accelerated and that nothing else was really coming after her, I knew she wouldn’t stop. I felt she would run all the way to the line and that’s exactly what she did.”

Channel is the first thoroughbred to run in the colours of Samuel de Barros, who described his involvement in racing as an affair of the heart, having been drawn in by his wife Elodie, a successful breeder in the trotting world.

A progressive filly, Channel, was unraced at two but this was her third win this year and is clearly going the right way.  Bred by Kilcarn Stud, she is out of the Dansili mare Love Magic, a daughter of Gr.1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Magical Romance, a half-sister to triple Gr.1 Oaks heroine Alexandrova.

Channel was Nathaniel’s third Gr1 winner and second Classic winner, the other being dual Arc and Breeders’ Cup winner Enable.