Godolphin’s Tribalist sprung a surprise from the front when taking the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp for jockey Mickael Barzalona and trainer Andre Fabre.
Originally touted as the clash of generations between 2000 Guineas hero Notable Speech and dual Group 1 winner Charyn, it was a shock result with the latter finishing best of the well-fancied horses in second. Barzalona stole the advantage coming out of the stalls and remained clear of the field with two furlongs to run, giving Silvestre de Souza, aboard Charyn, no choice but to chase the leader down. Whilst the Roger Varian-trained favourite closed well in the final stages, he was no match for Tribalist, who remained one-and-a-quarter lengths clear at the line.
In an interview with Sky Sports Racing, Fabre said:"It was a fantastic front-running performance, but it was down to Tribalist not the trainer.
"He is just good. Mickael couldn't do anything else (but what he did), the others let him go."
"For sure, there is no other option [other than the Prix de la Foret]. He could then go to the Breeders' Cup."
Roger Varian, trainer of Charyn, remained optimistic, with a possible tilt the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day on the cards:
"He has run a tremendous race, I don't think we can be disappointed at all with his performance. Losing a shoe was probably not ideal, but I think on this ground he is probably not even aware he lost a shoe.
"For me it is not an excuse, it's just frustrating because I think he has run enormous and I think he ran well enough to win the race but didn't quite. It's frustrating but we congratulate the winner and move on.
"We would love to go to Ascot for the QEII, that has always been his autumn goal and it's six weeks away so plenty of time. As long as he is sound and healthy there is no reason why he won't go there."
