Hawk Mountain ultimately ran out a cosy winner of the Group 3 Prix de Guiche at Chantilly.
Aidan O'Brien's Wootton Bassett colt won three of his four starts as a juvenile, culminating with victory in the Group 1 William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster in October, and he took full advantage of a dip in grade for his first run of the 2026 campaign.
However, it wasn't completely plain sailing for jockey Christophe Soumillon aboard the 8/11 favourite, who appeared to race wider than intended on entering the home straight and still showed signs of greenness when asked for his effort to seal the deal inside the final couple of furlongs.
Wearing cheekpieces for the first time in competitive action, Hawk Mountain was never headed in the nine-furlong contest and although Lord Clover challenged on the outside when the market leader appeared to briefly lose focus, he had more than enough class to run on and score with something to spare.
Hawk Mountain can be backed at 3/1 for the Prix du Jockey Club - the French Derby - back at Chantilly on Sunday June 7.
Hawk Mountain 💜
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 4, 2026
Aidan O'Brien's charge lands the Group 3 Prix de Guiche at Chantilly under Christophe Soumillon... pic.twitter.com/Q7oLGMgGE0
"I spoke to Chrisophe and he said he felt a very good horse but still felt very green,” the winning trainer told Racing TV.
“If he goes back to the French Derby it’s nice to have gone around the track with him but he’s always been a laidback horse. The ground was much quicker, he’s done most of his running on soft ground because at the time of the year that’s what the ground was.
“But Christophe said he had no problem with the quicker ground and we just had cheekpieces on today to stop him being lazy. He said he was surprised how green he was but loved him and said he felt a very good horse.”
“Nine furlongs around there, if he goes back to the French Derby, should be the perfect prep for him.”
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
