Louisa Carberry was given a birthday to remember when Gran Diose galloped on strongly to land the Grade 1 Prix la Haye Jousselin for jockey Thomas Beaurain at Auteuil on Sunday, with ante-post King George VI favourite Il Est Francais pulled up.
All eyes were on Il Est Francais in the Prix la Haye Jousselin as he bid to stamp his King George VI Chase claims, but not for the first time, connections of the talented six-year-old were left scratching their head when James Reveley eased his mount out of the race on the final circuit.
Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm's charge set out at the head of affairs under Reveley and in the early parts of the contest, he jumped with the same zest and enthusiasm that saw him saunter to a stunning success in the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton last year, a performance that sent him to the head of the ante-post market for this season's King George VI Chase back at the Sunbury venue on Boxing Day.
However, Il Est Francais was ponderous at the water jump on the second circuit and began to lose ground. As Juntos Ganamos moved to the front, a quick glance down over the right shoulder of James Reveley revealed the fate of Il Est Francais and he was subsequently swiftly pulled up.
With the market leader now out of the contest, many would have expected Juntos Ganamos to capitalise, but David Cottin's five-year-old's inexperience started to show and following a series of jumping errors, he found himself on the back foot.
That left the door open for Gran Diose, an invitation Louisa Carberry's seasoned eight-year-old wasn't going to pass up and with a solid round of jumping, the reigning Grand Steeplechase de Paris winner, who was sent off a relatively unfancied 10/1 chance under Thomas Beaurain, went on to land the spoils by a commanding five lengths from Grandeur Nature. Juntos Ganamos finished well-held back in third.
Success meant Gran Diose became the third horse during the past decade to complete the Group 1 feature French Steeplechase double alongside Milord Thomas (2015) and Doctuer de Ballon (2020), who was also trained by Carberry.
"I'm so proud of him. Amazing," the winning trainer told Sky Sports Racing. "He's the most beautiful horse and it's a pleasure to train him."
"Thomas' (Beaurain) father won this race seven times on Al Capone and I'm sure it's pretty emotional for him to win today.
"We thought they might jump off quick and we just wondered how quick they might go. It was up to Thomas to work out how quick they might go, and, in the end, they went at a normal pace, and we were able to track them before taking it up at the rail ditch. From there on it was all pretty easy for him.
"I've always thought this horse was pretty special. A few people didn't give him the respect he deserved but he can't read the newspapers, I don't care, and I'll let him do the talking and he's done that. I'm delighted for him. He deserved it, that was one of the best races there's been in France for a long time and he's an absolute champion."
Having been a general 3/1 favourite for the King George VI Chase, Il Est Francais was subsequently pushed out to the 10/1 mark by the majority of bookmakers, with his participation now clearly in doubt. The Willie Mullins-trained Gaelic Warrior was shortened to a general 5/2 favourite.
Speaking to Sky Sports Racing, co-trainer Noel George said: "James just said he cut out and that's why he pulled him up. There's no certain reason for it – we'll do every test we can possibly do and then we'll make a decision on what the plan is. He's not lame, so we'll find a solution."
On running in the King George, he added: "Obviously, it's not going to be 100 per cent that we're going to be coming, we've just got to make a plan and we're not going to jump to any conclusions at all.
"There's no point making a decision now, we've got to work out what's gone on and then make a decision on what we do."
