Prix Ganay (Group 1)
THE ‘blue with white seams and sleeves’ silks of owner-breeders the Wertheimer family have been a fixture in the upper echelons of French racing for over a century and have won most of the top events on numerous occasions.
So last Sunday was a particularly satisfying day for brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, proprietors of the luxury fashion house, Chanel.
Not only did their two top horses, Sosie and Aventure, return to action in spectacular fashion at Longchamp, but Sosie gave them their initial triumph in the opening Group 1 race of the European season, the Prix Ganay, a feat that neither their father, Jacques, nor his father Pierre before him, had ever previously accomplished.
Sosie’s performance was especially notable given that he had two major negatives to overcome.
This mile, two furlongs and 110 yards trip was on the sharp side for a colt whose greatest victories had both come over a mile and a half. And, unlike the race-hardened favourite, Map Of Stars, he was appearing in public for the first time in almost six months.
Honest gallop
Held up in midfield by Maxime Guyon as one of the two Irish raiders, Henry de Bromhead’s Higher Leaves, set an honest enough gallop, while the other one, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Al Riffa, gave chase, Sosie moved into the lead with a furlong and a half to run before holding the late thrust of Map Of Stars by a neck.
There was a two-length break to Royal Rhyme in third with Al Riffa, who was outpaced with a quarter of a mile to run before staying on again, getting back up into fourth, a further three quarters of a length adrift, and Higher Leaves last of the six runners.
To say that Map Of Stars was unlucky would be an exaggeration. But his rider, Mickael Barzalona, deputising for the injured James Doyle, may have been better off staying on Sosie’s tail when he became a little boxed in soon after rounding the final turn, rather than switching to the wide outside.
Class to win
Winning trainer Andre Fabre said: “I’m delighted because it was his seasonal debut and the distance was a little bit short but he still had the class to win. He prefers good ground, he’s not so happy on soft, and I hope that he can go for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and the King George, those type of races.”
Guyon, added: “The most important thing for Sosie is the ground. He’s massive and in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe the ground was a bit too soft. He can improve after this race for sure.”
Stars superb
It was a superb afternoon for the Giltown Stud stallion Sea The Stars, as he is the sire of both Sosie and Map Of Stars and, 35 minutes earlier, had also been responsible for the winner of the Group 3 Prix Allez France, Aventure.
Absent since finishing second, three lengths in front of fourth-placed Sosie, in the Arc in October, Aventure only needed to be pushed out to see off Mme Jourdain by two and a half lengths.
Trainer Christophe Ferland reacted: “I’m very satisfied. It’s stressful bringing such a fantastic filly as Aventure back to the races as we didn’t know if she’d be back to her top level.
“We learned that she can do 2,000 metres (10 furlongs), that’s a good point as I think that she’s much better over a mile and a half.
“The obvious race is the Coronation Cup, and I don’t think that Epsom, going up and down and left-handed, would be any problem for her.
“But, after today, the fillies’ only race over 2,000 in Ireland [the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on June 28th] also has to come into consideration. I don’t think she was 100% today, I think she will progress a lot.”
The Arc, a race that the Wertheimers have won three times before, most recently with Solemia in 2012, remains the big target for both Sosie and Aventure.
THERE was some cracking jumping action at Auteuil last Saturday and Coolmore’s dream of finding the next Walk In The Park came a small step closer when two of his colts finished first and fifth, though not in betting market order, in the Listed Prix Go Ahead, a three-year-old hurdle over a mile and seven furlongs.
Wild Bill Hickock, a 6/1 chance, prevailed by a neck with the odds-on favourite, The Mighty Celt, who raced too freely, 16 lengths back in fifth. The pair are trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm and are set to meet again in the Grade 3 Prix Aguado in three weeks time.
On the chasing front, both the reigning Grand Steeple-Chase champion, Gran Diose (who is trained by Louisa and Philip Carberry), and the 2022 winner of that race, Sel Jem, made winning comebacks.
They could meet in this year’s Grand Steep’, which is the centrepiece of the Aguado card and should also feature its 2023 hero, Rosario Baron, in what could be a race for the ages.