Tag Archive for: Prix de la Foret

Maranoa Charlie on course for Foret challenge

/in /by

Maranoa Charlie is booked for the Prix de la Foret after his gallant third-placed run in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes at the weekend.

The Wootton Bassett colt is trained in Chantilly by Christopher Head and made his first trip across the Channel to contest the seven-furlong Group One under the French rider Aurelien Lemaitre.

He was a 9-1 chance among a field of 10 and ran a fine race to come home just three-quarters of a length behind the winner on his second start for new owners Bond Thoroughbreds.

“He ran a very good race, I was really happy with the performance of the horse,” said Head.

“We tried a new strategy this time, we were waiting with him a little bit and it was really worth it.

“He showed a real change of speed at the end of the race, he was very resilient and I was very happy with him.

“He’s come out of the race very well and he didn’t even lose that much weight, which is fantastic because now we know he’s capable of taking all the travelling.

“We’re going to go to the Prix de la Foret for his next race, and that may be the end of his season.

“I need to discuss it with his owner, of course, but we’re going to concentrate on a nice programme for next season with lots of travelling because he looks like he can handle it.

“He’s going to be very interesting for all the big mile races next season.”

Sajir team plot familiar route for Deauville winner

/in /by

Replicating his father in the Prix de la Foret and a tantalising Breeders’ Cup tilt are the likely targets for Sajir this autumn following his Prix Maurice de Gheest heroics.

Andre Fabre’s four-year-old excelled at Deauville when claiming the feature Group One sprint in the hands of Oisin Murphy, lowering the colours of both defending champion and Royal Ascot scorer Lazzat and Prix Jean Prat winner Woodshauna who filled the places.

It was a performance which delighted connections and vindicated their belief in the son of Make Believe as he flew home in blistering fashion, also providing compensation for being withdrawn before the start of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes that Lazzat subsequently won at Ascot back in June.

“He looked magnificent on Sunday and these victories don’t happen often so you try to enjoy them more knowing they are not a regular thing,” said Ted Voute, racing adviser to owner Prince Faisal.

“I rang Andre (on Monday) and the horse had just arrived back from Deauville to Chantilly and was sound. Obviously with the ground as rattling as it was, we were holding our breath a little, but he was sound as a pound.

“He beat the form horses in second and third who had both won Group Ones themselves, so it franks everything and was won in the second fastest time ever in that race and the fastest time from a colt in that race – it writes quite a nice stallion advertisement.”

Make Believe won the seven-furlong Prix de la Foret for Fabre in 2015 and Sajir will take a direct route to ParisLongchamp on Arc day in a bid to emulate that achievement.

Sajir winning at Newmarket earlier this season
Sajir winning at Newmarket earlier this season (Mike Egerton/PA)

That outing could well be followed by a trip to America for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, with the master trainer also tempted to test the colt’s stamina at Del Mar in November.

Voute added: “He’s in the Foret and Andre said directly after the race we will follow his father’s footsteps. He runs best fresh, so I could see us going straight there.

“Andre also said though that there is something about him that makes him feel the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar wouldn’t be a bad idea, so we might put him in the mix there and see how we get on.

“It’s Andre’s idea and he’s a master of these sort of things and he just felt the layout of the course might play to his strengths a little bit.

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before we get there, but it’s not a bad target!”