AIDAN O’Brien has enjoyed a fine few days. Understandably, most of the positive vibes which he has generated in that period have come thanks to the 1000 Guineas and Mooresbridge Stakes triumphs of True Love and Minnie Hauk.
Yet, while the 28-time champion trainer may have been more than 600 miles away in Co Kildare saddling his runners at the Curragh, a no less significant success was being posted at Chantilly on Monday by one of his leading classic prospects, Hawk Mountain.
Running for the first time since slogging through heavy ground at Doncaster to land the Group 1 Futurity Trophy six months previously, the son of Wootton Bassett encountered very different underfoot conditions when stepping up to nine furlongs for the first time against four locally-trained rivals in the Group 3 Prix de Guiche.
Adopting his customary front-running tactics under Christophe Soumillon, Hawk Mountain was never seriously challenged for the lead and passed the post a comfortable length and a quarter in front of Lord Clover to become the first foreign winner in the Guiche’s 160-year history.
It was just five years ago that Ballydoyle’s best three-year-old colt, St Mark’s Basilica, swerved the top spring races in Ireland and Britain to land the Prix du Jockey Club en route to an unblemished second season on the track, and Hawk Mountain is now set to follow in his hoofprints by contesting that Chantilly summer showpiece on Sunday, May 31st.
Ran wide
O’Brien had decided to equip the son of his dual Group 1-winning mare Hydrangea with a pair of sheepskin cheekpieces and his reasoning for that move soon became apparent as Hawk Mountain came close to colliding with the inside running rail in the early stages, then ran wide around the turn into the home straight.
Soumillon handled these antics with a serene aplomb, and he never needed to pick up his whip to ensure that his charge was not overtaken.
“He was very relaxed throughout, but just had a look around a couple of times,” the jockey explained. “When I asked him to win his race, he came up with the right response and he’ll be much better suited by a stronger pace.
“The fast ground today was very different to what he had to overcome when I last saw him [in the Futurity Stakes, when Soumillon finished over three lengths behind him on Benvenuto Cellini].”
O’Brien has a fine recent Jockey Club record, having last year followed up St Mark’s Basilica’s success courtesy of Camille Pissarro.
THE highest status race in France over the recent May Bank Holiday Weekend came back on May Day itself, last Friday, when Saint-Cloud staged the Group 2 Prix du Muguet over a mile.
The winner, No Lunch, edged past the front-running British raider Seagulls Eleven to score by a neck and complete a six-timer.
Quite how strong the form turns out to be is open to question, the Christophe Ferland-trained Irish-bred victor has been kept on the go on the all-weather right throughout the winter, so had an obvious fitness edge, and had not managed to crack the top five in any of his four previous career attempts in pattern company, including in this race in 2025.
Ferland acknowledged those facts, but was delighted nevertheless, saying: “For once we found some proper fast ground for him and it made all the difference. He’s been able to take advantage and is a lovely horse to be around, he always tries his hardest.”
Perhaps more significant, with top level races later in the season in mind, was the victory later on the Saint-Cloud card of the four-year-old Night Of Thunder filly, Sunly, in the Group 3 Prix Allez France over a mile and two furlongs.
Off since narrowly beaten while suffering a career-threatening injury in the Group 2 Prix de Malleret last July, Sunly was another hands and heels ride for Soumillon, as she beat Tajlina by a length and a quarter.
Francis Graffard, who had to fight hard to be allowed to keep the Juddmonte-owned home-bred winner in training and is also responsible for the runner-up, said: “Sunly won on class alone, as she is much more of a mile and a half filly. The big target for her is to try to win a Group 1, so I will keep her against her own sex and maybe go for something like the Yorkshire Oaks or the Prix Vermeille. If that went well, she might even have a tilt at the Arc.”
Aga Khan potential
Graffard also had a good weekend with Aga Khan-bred three-year-olds. The Sea The Moon filly Behrayna made it two from two and justified odds-on favouritism under Mickael Barzalona in winning the Listed Prix de la Seine over a mile and three at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and on Tuesday, Daryzan, a Zarak half-brother to Daryz, showed a fine turn of foot on debut to win the 14-runner Prix Mendez for newcomers over a mile at Saint-Cloud. On Thursday, Erdenali made it two from two at ParisLongchamp.
THE Prix Greffulhe, a three-year-old mile, two furlongs and 100 yards event, has a solid roll of honour with the likes of Gold Trip, Study Of Man and Recoletos among its recent heroes, but Tuesday’s renewal of the Group 3 Saint-Cloud contest attracted a modest field of four.
It may be that Alam, the Mikel Delzangles-trained winner who had never won a race beforehand, was successful by default given that he was the only member of the quartet to handle the rain-softened ground.
JOSH Williamson rode a winner over jumps at Auteuil on Wednesday for the Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm stable.
Williamson, who recently turned professional, won a claiming hurdle very easily on British export Junker D’Allier.
Williamson’s parents Norman and Janet will be hoping for more good results at this weekend’s Arqana Breeze-Up Sale in Deauville, which begins today..