Prix du Jockey Club

Interesting though isn't it that Coolmore now seem to regard the Jockey Club as so inferior to the Derby . Westphalia is very second string to say RVW .
 
Well spotted Betsmate.
I think Colonial was the star of the show today.
 
True Gal but you might have thought that RVW would have obtained more prestige from a Jockey Club win than from another smacking from STS and they could then have ridden the others much more aggressively- which as I understood it was your thesis as to how they should have been ridden .
 
Ardross said:
True Gal but you might have thought that RVW would have obtained more prestige from a Jockey Club win than from another smacking from STS and they could then have ridden the others much more aggressively- which as I understood it was your thesis as to how they should have been ridden .
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O'Brien is not afraid of getting his horses beat in classics and Derbys....we have seen that before. Epsom is an important race for them not only for aiming for winning it but also for guiding future plans for the rest of the season.
 
Gareth Flynn said:
I'm sure when Naqoos got beaten in the Djebel that I tried to cheer Gamla Stan up by pointing out that Zafonic got beat in it by Kingmambo. "Le Havre is probably no Kingmambo" I said. Heh.
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He loves doing me out of money! Had a pretty decent wager on Silver Frost but it was never to be.

I don't know what Rouget is feeding his horses, probably the same as Clive Cox is feeding his!
 
Magnier said somewhere recently that he thought it a mistake to reduce the distance of the Chantilly race.
 
Magnier said that in the Telegraph, I think. I guess the Aga Khan and Alain de Royer Dupre share his feeling.
Silver Frost was not quite himself, I think, even if they say he did not stay. i think he's not the type of horse for chasing leaders as he did. Chantilly is an odd place too. Some horse completely lose it over there, especially with the new parade ring which seems to turn them on way too early.
Anyway it is a nice result for the French Guineas -bar its winner !- but I think it was a below average renewal altogether. None of those would be at less than 7/1 against Sea the Stars whatever the conditions.
Have a lok at the first at Saint-Cloud today. It is one of the most promising 4-horses race I have seen for a long time !
 
The French Want Their Derby Back!

By Desmond Stoneham6.12PM 8 JUN 2009
ELIE LELLOUCHE, nearest rival to leader Jean-Claude Rouget in the French trainer's table, has reiterated the sentiments of Christophe Soumillon and the Aga Khan calling for the Prix du Jockey-Club to return to its former trip of 1m4f.
Since 2005 the race has been run over the shorter trip of 1m 2½f but Lellouche, who saddled Vesuve and Wajir to finish seventh and 12th on Sunday, called for a return to1m4f, saying: "I would definitely prefer a return to the old distance."

Carlos Laffon-Parias trained dual Group 1-winner Laverock to finish sixth behind Shamardal in the inaugural running over the shorter trip, and he suggested on Monday that the "best horse" no longer wins.

While Shamardal went on to win the St James's Palace Stakes at York before being retired to stud after a training setback, runner-up Hurricane Run made his name over 1m4f by taking the Irish Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and then landing the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot as a four-year-old.
Last year Montmartre, who posted a career high Racing Post Rating of 127 when taking the Grand Prix de Paris, was only 15th to Vision d'Etat in the Jockey-Club with the winner achieving an RPR of 122.
Laffon-Parias said: "Look what happened with Hurricane Run and Montmartre. The best horse doesn't win the Jockey-Club any more and I don't consider it a Classic."
At Chantilly on Sunday the Aga Khan-owned Beheshtam stayed on to finish fourth to Le Havre, causing connections to suggest that the son of Peintre Celebre would have won had the race been run over 1m 4f.
Soumillon, who rode him, said: "We would have won over the old distance and the Jockey-Club is now just a trial for the Grand Prix. I want a true Derby back over 2400m [1m4f]."
 
I think they have a point to be fair. There does need to be a top race for 1m2f three year olds at around this time of year though.
 
Now I'm a Soumillon fan, but I'm not sure I could state "We would have won over the old distance" with any more confidence than "We would have won if I wasn't sat a furlong off the pace".
 
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I think it's pretty funny that they changed the distance to a "more fashionable" 10.5f just as ostensibly 12f sires like Montjeu and Galileo became dominant and, well, fashionable!

I've been saying it for a couple of years now: the Grand Prix de Paris is the French Derby.
 
Montmartre wouldn't have won over any distance.

Sakhee, Alamshar, St Jovite, Dylan Thomas, Dubai Millenium. Our Derby doesn't always go to the best animal.
 
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No, Montmartre had a right off day for some reason. Still a massive shame he was retired and we couldn't get to see him this year.
 
Sinndar was better than Sakhee (on the day at least), the trainer/jockey have admitted making a mistake in riding Alamshar like a horse who would not stay, Dubai Millennium didn't stay and Dylan Thomas wasn't the best horse that day (he subsequently improved bucketloads).

I think the Derby is a pretty good race at picking out the best horse (over the distance, of course).
 
Gamla Stan said:
No, Montmartre had a right off day for some reason. Still a massive shame he was retired and we couldn't get to see him this year.
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Apparently the noise & fanfare really got to him.

I actually like the French system ... Guineas, 1m2.5, then 1m4. It's actually the perfect progression when you think about it.
 
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