ALMANZOR did not progress as quickly as hoped by Jean-Claude Rouget, so the colt will start his four-year-old career in the Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on 15 August.

The son of Wootton Bassett won the Prix du Jockey Club and both the Irish and Qipco Champion Stakes last year, and he may well be starting a build up to another trip to Leopardstown and the last Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.

CENTRE OF ATTENTION

Chantilly also hosted an afternoon for “Au-Dela des Pistes” which is an organisation for retraining racehorses after they have retired from the track. The star of the afternoon was Cirrus Des Aigles who was ridden during the parade by his faithful girl-groom, Zoe Gargoulaud.

The 10-year-old appeared to enjoy being in the limelight once again and Christophe Soumillon found time to sign autographs for fans, while Cirrus Des Aigles enjoyed getting involved in selfies.

The charity is dedicated to finding new careers for previous stars who could become hacks, dressage horses, show jumpers, polo ponies or just family pets. Bravo to the organisers, who include Irish-born Lisa-Jane Graffard and one of the Aga Khan’s right-hand ladies, Nemone Routh.