Cygames Grand Prix de Paris (Group 1)
EIGHT days on from his incredible act of escapology aboard Delacroix in the Eclipse Stakes, the riding boot was on the other foot for Ryan Moore at Longchamp last Sunday evening as his mount, Trinity College, was nabbed close home by Leffard and Cristian Demuro in the Group 1 Cygames Grand Prix de Paris.
Which is not to say that the world’s top jockey did anything wrong. Trinity College’s stamina for a mile and a half was far from assured, so the obvious tactic to employ aboard this front-running Dubawi colt was to wait in front and leave it until the home straight to kick for home.
Unfortunately for Moore, soon after the stalls opened it became apparent that Augustin Madamet aboard Frankly Good Cen was also keen on setting the pace and Moore took the sensible decision to avoid getting involved in a joust for the lead, instead reining back into Frankly Good Cen’s slipstream.
The negative impact of this move came with three furlongs to run when, with Frankly Good Cen yet to show signs of wilting, Moore was forced to ask Trinity College to quicken a few strides earlier than might have been the case with an uncontested lead.
Trinity College responded generously to move to the head of affairs approaching the two furlong pole and still held a one-length advantage a furlong later. While clearly lasting out the distance, he didn’t see it out as strongly as Leffard, who edged past in the shadow of the post to score by a short head.
There was a five-and-a-half-length chasm back to the enigmatic Epsom Derby fourth New Ground in third. Ridden for the first time by the Irish Champion, Colin Keane, New Ground again severely compromised his chance by pulling fiercely.
Keane did his very best to get him to settle, burying the son of Frankel against the inside rail, and was not hard on his partner in the final quarter mile, doing the bare minimum necessary to ensure the minor placing.
Reacting to Trinity College’s effort, trainer Aidan O’Brien simply said: “He ran very well and the distance wasn’t a problem, he just didn’t win.”
Henri-Francois Devin, who trains New Ground, was more loquacious, saying: “He pulled near enough through the entire race, so it is remarkable that he had the energy to get up for third. We are going to need to drop him back in trip and try to get him to settle, only then can we consider going longer distances again.”
Devin’s contention that New Ground’s behaviour was partly precipitated by a slow pace looks flawed. The winning time was quicker than standard and was almost 4.5 seconds faster than the Group 2 fillies’ contest run over the same course 35 minutes earlier.
Such concentration on the placed horses should not be allowed to take away from the winner and, in particular, the sweetness of a story that saw the much-loved five-time French Champion Trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget, on hand to welcome one of his charges into the Group 1 winner’s enclosure for the first time in almost two years.
In the intervening period Rouget, who is now 71 years of age, has been an irregular visitor to the racecourse while fighting ill-health, forced to leave saddling responsibilities to his long-time assistant, Jean-Rene Dubosc. Now he was back landing a third Grand Prix de Paris, 31 years after his initial victory, one which was delivered by Millkom with Dubosc in his saddle.
Happiness radiated from his every pore in the post-race celebrations as, struggling to hold himself together, Rouget said: “It’s wonderful to win this race after such a difficult time. It’s also fantastic for my team in Pau.
“Their support has kept me going. Without them, I would have stopped. My assistant, Jean-Rene, did a superb job. He’s currently on a two-week holiday, but when he comes back, he is sure to have a spring in his step.
“I’ve always thought Leffard was a very good horse. He had his excuses in the Prix du Jockey Club [when he finished more than six lengths behind Trinity College] and that race left me wanting more.
“When we saw that the field had cut up, and after he worked well on Thursday morning, his owner, Gerard Augustin-Normand, asked me to supplement him. This victory has a special meaning for Gerard, as Leffard is by Le Havre, who is the first horse that he ever had with me.”
Leffard will now take the traditional route to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, with just one run beforehand in the Prix Niel.
JOCKEY Kieran Shoemark had earlier put his recent troubles behind him with an expertly-judged front-running ride aboard Qilin Queen to lift the Group 2 Cygames Prix de Malleret for Lambourn trainer Ed Walker.
A month on from failing to handle the soft ground when eighth in the Oaks at Epsom, Qilin Queen looked likely to be swallowed up by the chasing pack as the field passed the furlong pole, but dug deep to hold off Keane’s mount, the previously unbeaten Sunly, by a short neck.
Afterwards, Walker nominated the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille as possible future targets for Qilin Queen, who was becoming the first Pattern winner for the Dalham Hall Stud stallion Pinatubo.
The other big race on the card, the Group 2 Cygames Prix Maurice de Nieuil over a mile and six, saw Francis Graffard’s Aga Khan home-bred Sibayan extricate himself from a tight spot halfway up the home straight to score by a cosy neck and mark himself out as a stayer worth following.