Weekly Round-Up of French Racing and Trotting - 2nd June 2021.
Longchamp hosted another quality Sunday with Group One action headlining. There was much more including trotting at Vincennes and Le Croisé-Laroche in addition to Bordeaux delivering fascinating Flat action…
Flat
| Date | Wednesday 26 May |
| Venue | Saint Cloud |
| Race | R4 – G2 Prix Corrida (2100m) |
| Type | For four-year-old and above fillies and mares |
| Winner | Ebaiyra |
| Jockey | Christophe Soumillon |
| Trainer | Alain de Royer Dupré |
| Breeding | Distorted Humor x Ebiyza |
| Second | Raabihah |
| Third | No Limit Credit |
| Four-year-old filly, Ebaiyra continued to progress her profile when following up the G3 Prix Allez France (2000m) success with victory last week. She enjoyed a good previous campaign which included a great third in the G1 Prix de Royallieu (2800m) last October. Owned and bred by HH Aga Khan, Ebaiyra is out of the Group two winner Ebiyza (Rock Of Gibraltar). | |
| Date | Saturday 29 May |
| Venue | Bordeaux (Good To Soft) |
| Race | R4 – Listed 165e Derby du Midi (1900m) |
| Type | For three-year-olds |
| Winner | Paco |
| Jockey | Gérald Mossé |
| Trainer | Jérôme Reynier |
| Breeding | Paco Boy x Momo No Sekku |
| Second | Absurde |
| Third | Singledon |
| With the field leaving the stalls together, it was Paco who made all after setting a decent tempo early on. Gérald Mossé did apply the brakes slightly at halfway when the field split into two groups travelling along the back straight, notably Cristian Demuro staying wide on Craps. This winner however always caught the eye travelling powerfully and picked up nicely at the finish to just prevail with the first four horses covered by a length. The Jean-Claude Seroul homebred claimed black-type success on his first attempt in the class to give Paco Boy a fourteenth stakes winner. Paco Boy stood seven seasons at Highclere Stud until he was sold to Turkey in 2017. | |
| Date | Saturday 29 May |
| Venue | Bordeaux |
| Race | R5 – Listed 99e Grand Prix de Bordeaux - 4e Etape du Défi du Galop (1900m) |
| Type | For four-year-olds and above |
| Winner | Monty |
| Jockey | Gérald Mossé |
| Trainer | Jérôme Reynier |
| Breeding | Motivator x Antebellum |
| Second | Pao Alto |
| Third | Charlesquint |
| After being entered in both the G1 Prix d'Ispahan (1850m) at Longchamp on Sunday and this event, the six-year-old son of Motivator contested the correct contest on the weekend confirming connections had made the best decision. Again, it was another front running winning performance when kicking clear in the home straight to find success by just under two lengths to give the jockey and trainer a double on the card winning both black type races. This became the 32nd stakes winner for Motivator. The stallion stands at Haras du Quesnay where his fee this year is €7,000. | |
| Date | Sunday 30 May |
| Venue | Longchamp (Soft) |
| Race | R4 – G3 Prix du Palais-Royal (1400m) |
| Type | For three-year-olds and above |
| Winner | Marianafoot |
| Jockey | Mickaël Barzalona |
| Trainer | Jérôme Reynier |
| Breeding | Footstepsinthesand x Marianabaa |
| Second | Duhail |
| Third | Namos |
| Six-year-old, Marianafoot showed the youngsters how to do it on Sunday at Longchamp when recording a seventh consecutive victory to boost Jérôme Reynier's weekend of good form winning all four stakes races including the G1 Prix d'Ispahan (1850m). He made all with style when responding well in the final 400m to keep rivals at bay. | |
Trotting
| Date | Tuesday 25 May |
| Venue | Vincennes |
| Race | R2 – G2 Sulky 3 Ans Qualif 3 - Prix Kalmia (Prix Kalmia) (2700m) |
| Type | Driven for three-year-olds colts |
| Winner | Impressionist |
| Driver | Eric Raffin |
| Trainer | Louis Baudron |
| Breeding | Ready Cash x Une Lady de Nappes |
| Second | Italiano Vero |
| Third | Invincible Cash |
| Impressionist was an eye-catching winner confirming a bright beginning to his career. The son of Ready Cash made gradual headway down the back straight and then shared the lead as the field negotiated the final turn. Eric Raffin asked him to quicken which he did quickly pulling away by five lengths. He now holds a 50% winning strike rate (five from ten) for the Hunter Valley owned colt. | |
| Date | Tuesday 25 May |
| Venue | Vincennes |
| Race | R4 – G2 Sulky 3 Ans Qualif 4 - Prix Ozo (Prix Ozo) (2700m) |
| Type | Driven for three-year-old fillies |
| Winner | Inoubliable |
| Driver | Jean-Philippe Dubois |
| Trainer | Philippe Moulin |
| Breeding | Prodigious x Dream Life |
| Second | Isla Bonita |
| Third | Iseult Flower |
| Inoubliable had to work hard to achieve success in this fillies G2 last Tuesday at Vincennes when settled at the back in the early stages then forced three-wide down the back straight before being able to make progress. However, the favourite always caught the eye and came through for a narrow triumph showing high class ability to reverse the form with It's Now or Never in the G2 Prix Masina (2100m) a month ago. | |
| Date | Wednesday 26 May |
| Venue | Le Croisé-Laroche |
| Race | R1 – G3 Grand National du Trot (2825m) |
| Type | Driven for five- to ten-year-olds |
| Winner | Fire Cracker |
| Driver | Eric Raffin |
| Trainer | Grégory Thorel |
| Breeding | Quaro x Urganza |
| Second | Firello |
| Third | Copsi |
| Six-year-old, Fire Cracker found success in the latest round of the Grand National du Trot, this time staged at Le Croisé-Laroche which boosted Eric Raffin's points in the series to now be the leading driver with 37 points. The next round (event six) will be at Laval on Wednesday 9th June. | |
| Date | Friday 28 May |
| Venue | Vincennes |
| Race | R2 – G3 Prix du Crépuscule (2100m) |
| Type | Driven for five- to ten-year-olds |
| Winner | Violetto Jet |
| Driver | Franck Nivard |
| Trainer | Fabrice Souloy |
| Breeding | From Above x Nocciolaia Jet |
| Second | Ids Boko |
| Third | Détroit Castelets |
| Seven-year-old, Violetto Jet followed up his G3 Prix du Gatinais (2850m) triumph in style to record a 20th career win. The field were stretched throughout with Colonel setting a strong pace. However, Franck Nivard was making gradual headway with 700m to go and travelled nicely to produce a narrow success. | |
| Date | Friday 28 May |
| Venue | Vincennes |
| Race | R3 – G2 Sulky 4 Ans Qualif 3 - Prix Phaéton (Prix Phaéton) (2700m) |
| Type | Driven for four-year-old colts |
| Winner | Hohneck |
| Driver | Franck Nivard |
| Trainer | Philippe Allaire |
| Breeding | Royal Dream x Caranca |
| Second | Hermès Pat |
| Third | Hokkaido Jiel |
| The son of Royal Dream enhanced his record to gain a current 50% winning strike rate with ten victories from twenty attempts. Franck Nivard kept the four-year-old close to the leaders throughout, but he needed luck when in the second line tracking the leader with little room to go for. However, with two horses breaking stride in the final 150m, Hohneck was able to burst through to time things to perfection. | |
| Date | Friday 28 May |
| Venue | Vincennes |
| Race | R4 – G2 Sulky 4 Ans Qualif 4 - Prix Paul Leguerney (Prix Paul Leguerney) (2700m) |
| Type | Driven for four-year-old fillies |
| Winner | Hirondelle Sibey |
| Driver | Eric Raffin |
| Trainer | Jean-Michel Baudouin |
| Breeding | Gazouillis x Célina du Châtelet |
| Second | Héliade du Goutier |
| Third | Hanna des Molles |
| Hirondelle Sibey gained a four-timer last Friday when racing prominently throughout despite in places being forced wide on the course. She confirmed the form with multiple re-opposing rivals from the G2 Prix Gaston de Wazières (2875m) at Enghien four weeks prior to this. After a successful Winter Meeting, Hirondelle Sibey is proving to be one of the top four-year-olds around. A tilt to the G1 Critérium des 4 Ans in September is likely. | |
