Latest news with #QatarPrixduJockeyClub
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Camille Pissarro and Croix Du Nord headline star simulcast cast in France and Japan
Aidan O'Brien heads into Sunday's Group One Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (2,000m) double-handed as he bids to win the race for just the second time in his career at Chantilly on Sunday. The master of Ballydoyle first landed the French Derby with St Mark's Basilica and Camille Pissarro looks to have a brilliant chance of doubling his tally in the third French Classic of the season. The Wootton Bassett galloper won the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1,400m) at Longchamp in October and posted a career-best performance to finish third in the Group One Poule d'Essai des Poulains (1,600m) on his second run of this campaign. He was abandoned by Ryan Moore that day, but the top-class rider will reunite with him on this occasion and from the box-seat draw in barrier one, Camille Pissarro is set to go off favourite. Henri Matisse takes the Poule d'Essai des Poulains!🏆 — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 11, 2025 'Christophe [Soumillon] rode him last time and the minute he came in he said that this should be his next race,' O'Brien said. 'As a two-year-old, we weren't sure that he would even get seven furlongs. 'But he obviously won on Arc Day with Christophe and he felt the French Derby was made for him.' O'Brien also runs the Listed Epsom Blue Riband Trial (2,000m) second Trinity College, who will be ridden by Wayne Lordan. French hopes are led by Mikel Delzangles-trained Ridari, who won the Group Three Prix de Fontainebleau (1,600m) on reappearance before finishing fifth and two places behind Camille Pissarro in the French 2,000 Guineas. The outsider of the party Sea Scout, ridden by Harry Davies and trained by @gainsboroughHQ, continues his upward curve, holding on to victory in the Listed @Betfred Blue Riband Trial from the fast-finishing Trinity College 👏 — Epsom Downs Racecourse (@EpsomRacecourse) April 22, 2025 Late interference likely cost the son of Churchill fourth and on just his second start at the 2,000m trip, Delzangles will be hoping he can show improved form. The British challenge is led by Detain, who also ran in the French 2,000 Guineas, finishing a length off Ridari after lashing home from off the pace. He beat fellow British raider Luther on reappearance, but that rival reversed form and finished fourth in the aforementioned French 2,000 Guineas. The Jockey Club is simulcasting five races from Chantilly, while seven races will be offered for betting from Tokyo Racecourse, which stages the Group One Tokyo Yushun (2,400m). G1 2yo 2000m Hopeful Stakes at Nakayama: Won by 2c 6. CROIX DU NORD (Kitasan Black x Rising Cross 🇬🇧 (Cape Cross)) under Yuichi Kitamura 2.00.5 CROIX DU NORD now 3 for 3, an emerging superstar, same career rotation as CONTRAIL to date. KITASAN BLACK! — Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) December 28, 2024 The headline act is Croix Du Nord, who won the Group One Hopeful Stakes (2,000m) last year and was named Japan Racing Association's Best Two-Year-Old Colt for 2024. He lost his unbeaten record in the Group One Satsuki Sho (2,000m), but trainer Takashi Saito is confident we will see a different horse this time around. 'It was a difficult schedule getting him ready for the Satsuki Sho,' said Saito. 'With a sharpener this time, it's made things easier. He's moving well and his responses seem to be a level, or even two levels, above what they were before. 'Compared to the Satsuki Sho, he is in much better shape, both mentally and physically.' UPSET IN NAKAYAMA 🎌 MUSEUM MILE ミュージアムマイル hands star three-year-old CROIX DU NORD クロワデュノール his first loss to claim the G1 Satsuki Sho ✅ What a season Joao Moreira is having in Japan! 🇧🇷#ミュージアムマイル #クロワデュノール #競馬 — World Horse Racing (@WHR) April 20, 2025 He will reoppose the Satsuki Sho winner Museum Mile, but his trainer Daisuke Takayanagi was far less bullish on the chances of him holding that form. 'He definitely looks close to the condition he was in last time but, this time, he's holding back a bit,' said Takayanagi. 'Courage is what we need. As the Satsuki Sho winner, I think I can say he's heading into the Derby in a condition that will leave no room for embarrassment.'
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Winning combination of Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore pin hopes on Camille Pissarro in French Derby
The official start of summer sees the first of European racing's three main Derby prizes up for grabs, with Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore teaming up to try and land Sunday's Qatar Prix du Jockey Club in Chantilly. Racing's most potent partnership relies on Camille Pissarro in the €1.5 million French Derby, which this year takes place before next weekend's Epsom action. Delacroix and The Lion In Winter remain on course for English racing's 'Blue Riband' next Saturday and appear to be O'Brien's two main middle-distance classic hopes this season. The Irish Derby takes place on June 29. Camille Pissarro will be joined in Sunday's 18-runner field by stable companion Trinity College, the mount of Wayne Lordan. READ MORE The 'Jockey Club' has traditionally played second-fiddle to Epsom in Ballydoyle's Derby priorities. There was over 20 years of failure before O'Brien finally won it in 2021 with St Mark's Basilica. He was just the third ever Irish-trained winner of France's premier classic, decades after the Robert Sangster owned pair Assert and Caerleon won back-to-back in 1982 and 1983. Moore is also a previous French Derby winner on The Grey Gatsby 11 years ago. Having guided Henri Matisse to French Guineas glory at Longchamp earlier this month and sluiced up in last weekend's Irish 1000 Guineas on Lake Victoria, Moore is on a classic roll and has already enjoyed some good fortune ahead of Sunday's big race. The draw around Chantilly's 10½ furlongs is always a major factor but even more so with 18 runners. Jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O'Brien after winning The Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas with Lake Victoria. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Traditionally a double-digit wide draw is regarded as a negative. Camille Pissarro is bang on the rail in stall one. Moore might ideally prefer Trinity College's spot in three in terms of options, but it's a lot better than the fancied home pair Nitoi and Parachutiste on the outside. Camille Pissarro has at least got better luck in the draw than in the French Guineas where he was 15 of 16 around Longchamp's tight mile. He did well to reach third behind his stable companion, after which Christophe Soumillon immediately advised advised O'Brien to consider him for the French Derby. The Belgian rider landed the Lagardere on Camille Pissarro as a two-year-old but with Moore riding the Irish number one, Soumillon teams up with Detain, one of four English trained hopefuls. He too ran in the 'Poulains' and was sixth to Henri Matisse. The Gosden team, successful with Mishriff in 2020, have another runner in Bowmark. Nothing was drawn wider in the French Guineas than Luther, who ran on to be fourth. He represents Kieran Shoemark and Charlie Fellowes who lost the 'Pouliches' in the stewards' room after She's Perfect's interference with Zaragina. The latter's late owner and breeder, the Aga Khan, won the Jockey Club six times. Both Ridari and Azimpour will carry his famous green silks this time. Mickael Barzalona has opted for Ridari, who shapes as relishing the step up to this trip. He is by the stallion Churchill who sired the 2022 winner Vadeni. Chantilly presents its own kind of Derby challenge and O'Brien commented: 'We feel you need a miler that stays, that's the way the French Derby is now over 10 furlongs. 'Before you'd need a classic middle-distance horse over a mile and a half. Now you need a miler that gets nine furlongs, I think, and might get a bit further.' He added: 'The Epsom horses, if you have a real good mile-and-a-quarter horse, they might get away with a mile and a half there and then coming to the Curragh, it's a bit more straightforward, but they need to get a mile and a half well.' Sunday's feature is off at 3.05pm Irish-time and live on Sky Sports Racing. Elsewhere on the Chantilly card, Joseph O'Brien has snapped up Maxime Guyon to ride Midnight Strike in a Listed race after the Derby. An intense domestic bank holiday programme includes a pair of National Hunt cards on Saturday. Listowel kicks off three-days of action with a Mares Hurdle that sees champion jockey Paul Townend travel to the Kingdom for a single ride on Maughreen. The most high-profile runner on view will be the 2021 Irish St Leger hero Sonnyboyliston who gets a new jumping career off to a start in the following maiden hurdle. [ Charles Byrnes says no one hurting more than son Philip after 'soft unseat' at Wexford Opens in new window ] [ Aidan O'Brien's outstanding stayer Kyprios retired after aggravating old injury Opens in new window ] Sonnboyliston is now with Charles Byrnes who ran him in the Vintage Crop Stakes last time. How many of this opposition could get within ten lengths of Kyprios on the flat is debatable. Victory for the eight-year-old would be a boost for Byrnes and his son Philip, whose controversial unseat from Redwood Queen at Wexford on Wednesday is being investigated by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB). Redwood Queen, who had drifted in betting for the contest, looked to have a claiming hurdle race won until unshipping her rider. The incident has generated significant comment including immediately afterwards on Racing TV, where it was described as a 'soft unseat' by one pundit. Lots of online discussion following the opening race at Wexford earlier, and our team look back at the incident — Racing TV (@RacingTV) Although the race-day stewards at Wexford reviewed the unseating, they took no further action. However, the IHRB has subsequently opted to carry out a review of the incident. Charles Byrnes defended his son on Friday, arguing it is clear what occurred at the final hurdle. 'It's obvious what happened,' said the Co Limerick trainer. 'He was trying to get the mare to go in and pop it, because obviously she had the race won, and she came up out of his hands and blew him out of the saddle. There's no one hurting more than Philip about it.'
Spectator
2 days ago
- Sport
- Spectator
Bets for France and Haydock
Jockey Kieran Shoemark and trainer Charlie Fellowes are two talented men who deserve a change of fortune. Shoemark lost his job as first jockey to John and Thady Gosden after being blamed for Field of Gold's narrow defeat in the Betfred 2000 Guineas at Newmarket four weeks ago. Shoemark then rode Fellowes' filly Shes Perfect to victory in the French 1000 Guineas at Longchamp, only for the three-year-old filly to be demoted from first to second for interference. To add insult to injury, the decision was appealed and despite evidence from both men that they had been hard done by, they failed to get the result overturned. On Sunday, Fellowes and Shoemark will return to France, this time to Chantilly, for the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club, or French Derby (3.05 p.m.), when they hop Luther will land the French Classic over a distance of 1 mile 2 furlongs. The horse was fourth in the French 2000 Guineas earlier this month.
New Paper
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Rouget taking aim at seventh Jockey Club
PARIS After first forfeit, French trainer Jean-Claude Rouget could saddle two runners in the €1.5 million (S$2.2 million) Group 1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (2,100m) at Chantilly on June 1. He is simply the most successful active trainer in the great French spring championship for three-year-old colts and fillies. Having won the Prix du Jockey Club, also referred to as the French Derby, six times, he may now better his own record thanks to a two-pronged attack. The first time came in 2009 with the remarkable Le Havre, who coincidentally, will be represented in 2025 by his son Leffard, trained by Rouget as well and raced by the same co-owner, Gerard Augustin-Normand. It would not be unprecedented if the son were to follow in his father's footsteps. Of late, last year's Jockey Club winner Look De Vega - trained by Carlos and Yann Lerner, respectively father and brother of ex-Kranji jockey Marc Lerner - emulated the deed of his sire, 2010 winner Lope De Vega, himself a son of Shamardal, winner in 2005. In 2011, Reliable Man stepped into the shoes of his sire Dalakhani, who in 2003 had himself replicated the feat of his sire Darshaan (1984). Such generational success at the highest level perfectly illustrates the primary aim of horse racing: To select the best individuals to improve and perpetuate the thoroughbred breed. Based in Pau in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Rouget rose to prominence in French racing from the late 2000s, becoming the first regionally-based trainer (at the time with two establishments, one in Deauville and one in Pau) to win the greatest French races. He boasts the four classics - the Prix du Jockey Club, Prix de Diane, Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Poule d'Essai des Pouliches - on his resume, as well as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe earned in 2020 with Sottsass and in 2023 with Ace Impact, both of whom had previously won the Jockey Club. However, Rouget has battled illness in recent months and has refocused his operations in Pau, his historical base, with success. Rouget said he was happy with his two likely bidders Tipinso and Leffard to extend his record to seven. "Leffard and Tipinso worked together this morning (May 26)," he said. "Their gallop gave me complete satisfaction and, if nothing goes wrong between now and then, both horses will be at the start of the Prix du Jockey Club on Sunday." Tipinso, who is part-owned by Augustin-Normand, was a late scratching from the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (1,600m) at ParisLongchamp on May 11. The son of Pinatubo previously chased home Instant Fragile in a Listed mile race at Toulouse on April 20. As for Leffard, he discovered Chantilly in the Listed Prix de Suresnes (2,000m), on May 2, beaten a short head by the winner Ntoi. "That day, we simply wanted to see whether he was suited to the track and whether he was able to compete with that level of opposition, and he answered both questions with a yes," said Rouget. "Moreover, we especially didn't want him to have a tough race. That's why his jockey Jean-Bernard Eyquem didn't ask him for more than a solid effort. "He might have been able to win, but that wasn't the goal." With Leffard, Rouget was also driven by the many omens around his rich record in the iconic 189-year-old race. "On the evening of the Suresnes, I felt reassured on the points I've just mentioned, and I was also happy, because Leffard's story is a bit special," said Rouget. "When I bought him, I immediately thought of a partnership between Gerard Augustin-Normand and Antonio Caro, for whom I won the Prix du Jockey Club in 2016 with Almanzor." Rouget's other two Prix du Jockey Club winners are Brametot in 2017 and Vadeni in 2022. "Furthermore, he is a son of Le Havre, who also won the Jockey Club in 2009 for Gerard Augustin-Normand - and Leffard looks just like his father," he added. "Everything is going well so far. Hope it continues on Sunday." FRANCE GALOP
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
The two best mates who trained horses named after each other set to clash in fight for Group 1 glory
BEST pals George Scott and Charlie Fellowes could go head to head for Group 1 French Derby glory on June 1. The two handlers have long been buddies, and used to face-off in the George and Charlie: Off the Bridle podcast, although their last episode was in December of 2024. Come on, lads, time for another! Scott once trained a horse called Charlie Fellowes (wasn't too bad) and Fellowes the gelding George Scott (never won!). Now, Scott is primed to unleash the unbeaten Bay City Roller in the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly, while Fellowes has the option of France or Epsom for Luther, with the latter becoming increasingly more likely. Bay City Roller, whose sire New Bay landed the 2015 Jockey Club, is unbeaten in three starts for Scott, winding up last season with success in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. The handler told me: "It's likely Bay City Roller will go to the Jockey Club with the ground unlikely to get any softer for the Irish 2000 Guineas. "His work has been suggesting recently that he is now working towards his pedigree - his dam won over a mile and a half. "I'm really pleased with him and he's definitely a horse who needs some cut in the ground. "I'm looking forward to getting him started. It's not ideal he's been off this long if you are going into a Classic you probably could do with a run. "But he's been to Chelmsford a couple of times and Sheikh Nasser (owner and yard sponsor under the banner Victorious Racing) is keen we try the French Derby route." Fellowes trained Luther to finish an admirable fourth in the French 2000 Guineas on the same day his Shes Perfect landed the French 1000, only to be disqualified in the stewards' room. Connections are appealing that decision. "Both horses have two options and they both couldn't have taken their races in France any better," reports Fellowes. "Shes Perfect lost a baffling four kilos for her journey over in a very tough race, which just shows her remarkable constitution. "Luther lost ten kilos which again is pretty good. They are both in full work and both cantering away. "Luther has the option of the French and English Derby. Straight after the race I was very much leaning towards the French Derby, but the longer I talk about it with the owners the more we sway towards the English Derby. "On pedigree being by Frankel out of a Musidora winner he should stay and he looked like he would stay in France. And, there is only one Derby. "As for Shes Perfect the decision is between the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) or the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. "She's by Sioux Nation but out of a Galileo mare and every time something comes to her in her races she picks up again. "If she was able to get out in front in a nice rhythm in France I think that could be the spot for her. "The Coronation will be an extremely hot race with Lake Victoria, Zarigana and Flight likely to go, so we are probably leaning towards France and we might have unfinished business there!" Good luck, lads. . Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who:
