Mikel Delzangles will bid for further success on Newmarket's Rowley Mile with Melbourne Cup hero Dunaden in the £100,000 Group Two Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes on Saturday, May 5.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Run over a mile and a half, the Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes attracts some of Europe's leading older horses and recent names on the roll of honour include multiple Group One winner Shirocco, trained by Andre Fabre, as well as the 2006 St Leger victor Sixties Icon.
Dunaden, who is owned by Pearl Bloodstock Ltd, rounded off last year with a narrow victory in the Group One Hong Kong Vase over 12 furlongs in December and Delzangles is happy with how the son of Nicobar has recovered from his Far East exertions.
Delzangles, who trained Makfi to triumph in the 2010 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, said: “There is a big chance Dunaden could run in the Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. He has been in good order through the winter and recovered from his journey to Australia and Hong Kong very well. If he goes to Newmarket, he will be going there in very good form.
“In Hong Kong we wanted to see how good he was over 12 furlongs so we could tell how he would get on against the good horses in Europe. During the spring and summer we will stay at a mile and a half - races like the Grand Prix De Saint-Cloud and King George & Queen Elizabeth II Stakes are possibilities for him later in the season.
“Whether it's soft ground or fast ground, he has no preference.”
Delzangles also revealed the latest running plans for his Classic hopes Dragon Pulse, who beat Dabirsim in the Prix De Fontainebleau on Sunday, and Prix Djebel third Hermival.
Delzangles added: “Dragon Pulse will go to the French 2000 Guineas, but Hermival is likely to head to Newmarket for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas. He has improved a lot for his run in the Djebel and he should run well.”
Meandre, who sprung to prominence with an emphatic length and a half success in the Group One Grand Prix de Paris last July, is also on course for the Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes with the Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom Downs a likely objective later in the season.
Nick Bell, stud manager of the Rothschild Family's Haras de Meautry in France, said: “The Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes is the plan for Meandre, providing he is in good order before the race. He is also entered in the Prix Ganay, but he is more likely to go to Newmarket because the ground and faster pace will suit him better in the Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes.
“He has done very well over the winter - we are very pleased with him. He only started full work four or five weeks ago and he has been with Andre Fabre all the way through the winter, so whatever he does at Newmarket, he will come on for the race. If he runs well at Newmarket he will head to Epsom for the Coronation Cup
“I'm sure he will have some runs in France, but the firm ground seemed to suit him far better last year and he also needs plenty of pace in the race. When he won the Grand Prix De Paris last year there was a lot of pace and that really suited him, so the plan would be to go where we get those conditions.
“We have always thought a lot of him, but he has always had a bit of a kink in him and his mother was a very difficult horse in training even though she won a Listed race. He has always been easy to handle, but in one of his races he jinked across the track and was disqualified. He is a bit quirky and that is why we had to keep supplementing him for all his races during the year because at the beginning of the season we didn't realise he was as good as he is.
“I thought it was a very good run in the Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe when you look at the form of it. If you take out the winner who won very easily, he is in there with a whole host of good Group One horses. All roads this season lead back to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe again.”
The 19 entries for this year's race also include the past two St Leger winners, Masked Marvel and Arctic Cosmos, who are both trained by John Gosden, while Sir Michael Stoute could bid for his seventh success in the race with Sea Moon and Fiorente.
Sir Henry Cecil could saddle the highly regarded one-time Derby favourite World Domination and Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Vita Nova.
Other interesting entries include Luca Cumani's Quest For Peace, Ed Dunlop's Red Cadeaux, who finished a nose behind Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup, and the progressive Al Kazeem.
Godolphin captured the race in 2002 with subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Marienbard and this year they could be represented by Group Three winners Modun and Genius Beast, plus Sadeek's Song.
