News In Brief of French Racing and Trotting - 7th July 2021.
It has been another busy week in French racing including further success for two time-French classic winner St Mark's Basilica, Matthieu Abrivard, the Speed Cup at Vichy plus much more…
Ectot
Ectot gained his first winner as a stallion on Sunday at Vittel when Hewillget In got off the mark at the third attempt. Based at Haras de Bouquetot since 2018, this former top-class sire was a five-time Group winner including the G1 Critérium International (1600m). With the stallion's range in racing distances a rare achievement from 1400m up to 2400m, it will be interesting if the former Sylvain Dehez trained horse will produce the same ability as a sire.
Sealiway
After Sealiway's first run beyond 1600m in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m) (second) at Chantilly four weeks ago, manager of the Haras de la Gousserie Pauline Chehboub has indicated that if he continues to train well, his next likely target will be the G1 Grand Prix de Paris (2400m) to be run next week.
Matthieu Abrivard
Matthieu Abrivard has been confirmed as the new driver for Vivid Wise As. Future targets are likely to be: Enghien on July 31, Cagnes-sur-Mer on August 28, and the Naples Lottery on October 3.
The driver has also been in excellent form at Vichy with five wins and a placing from six drives so far during trotting week at the venue with all five victories coming on Monday.
Cirona
Cirona (Maxios) who ran second in the G1 Prix de Saint-Alary (2000m) at Longchamp before finishing tenth in the G1 Prix de Diane (2100m) at Chantilly, is due to make the journey across the Atlantic and line up at Belmont Park (USA) to participate in the G1 Belmont Oaks (2000m) this coming Saturday. This may be the last race that current trainer Christophe Ferland prepares with a possible move to USA based trainer Chad Brown.
Stallion success for The Grey Gatsby
The Grey Gatsby gained a first French victory as a sire when Jay Gatsby won a maiden last Friday at Compiegne on his second career start. Based at Haras du Petit Tellier, he only has two representatives in France currently racing.
A landmark for victory for Adrien Ernault
Adrien Ernault recorded a landmark win last Thursday at Graignes when securing his 50th career triumph. He almost achieved this away from his local track at Laval in the afternoon, but a late disqualification when Force Vive forced him to wait a little longer. He steered Etoile de Beaumée to win at Graignes a few hours later.
This means he now becomes professional having already produced an impressive record of 33 mounted wins and seventeen trotting drives including four victories at Vincennes.
Vichy's Speed Cup
On Thursday 8 July, Vichy will stage the Speed Cup. It is part of a National programme and is made up of two heats before a final. It is a new innovation and hopes to attract further quantity and quality to the meeting.
Duhail
The G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot (1400m) second, Duhail (Lope de Vega) now has a new goal with the G1 Sussex Stakes (1600m) at Goodwood (UK) on Wednesday 28 July his most likely target.
St Mark's Basilica
The G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (1600m) and G1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m) winner, St Marks's Basilica followed up for a fourth consecutive Group One victory when drawing away in style to win the G1 Eclipse Stakes (2000m) at Sandown Park (UK) on Saturday.
Go Athletico
Go Athletico produced a good third in the G3 Prix de La Porte Maillot (1400m) at Longchamp last Thursday and now might aim for the Listed Prix de Tourgeville (1600m) at Deauville, which is part of their summer carnival on Thursday 5th August. If this experiment at the 1600m works out, a possible longer-term goal could be the G1 Prix de la Forêt (1400m) in October.
Yoann Lebourgeois
Yoann Lebourgeois closed the gap in the Sulky d'Or Driver's championship table to now be sitting second, only one behind Matthieu Abrivard who has recorded 107 wins. This was helped by winning four races at Mont-Saint-Michel last week.
