Will Vadeni strike first time back in the Ganay?

Prix Ganay preview: Pedigree angles

By Laura Joy

Horse Racing

Sun April 30, 2023 · 3y ago

Away from Classic trials and disdain for a football final, the class of 2022 and their elders have been quietly readying themselves for the first Group One of the European Flat season.

Open to horses aged four and above, the Prix Ganay might appear to have arrived with haste and thus slipped under the radar, but don’t be fooled. This is no open goal. With possibly one of the strongest renewals in recent memory set to take place on Sunday, the first major test of the mature students for 2023 is upon us and right on time.

What makes the Classics unique is their limit to three-year-olds only and all bar one of these elite thoroughbreds missed their opportunity or fell short for one reason or another.

Place du Carrousel (Lope de Vega) cannot erase her no-show in the Prix de Diane and subsequent G1 winner aged four Bay Bridge (New Bay) was winning handicaps either side of his would-be Classic campaign.

Nobody has forgotten what Vadeni (Churchill) achieved in his five-length Prix du Jockey Club annihilation and his connections probably wish they could forget his luckless third in the Irish Champion Stakes. One place ahead of him but one place shy of victory at Leopardstown last September was Onesto (Frankel), a much-improved effort from his promising six and three quarter-length fifth in Vadeni’s Prix du Jockey Club.

A grandson of Kalima, dam of Jet Away (Cape Cross) and sister to the late great Hasili, Francis Graffard’s lightly raced colt by the current great Frankel added a Group 1 to his own CV when beating the reopposing rapid improver Simca Mille (Tamayuz) in the Grand Prix de Paris. Said rapid improver boasts at least one thing his key rivals do not – race fitness.

Falling just three quarters of a length shy from arriving here on the back of a win is Iresine (Manduro) who found only Simca Mille too strong in the G2 Prix d’Harcourt – a race that has been used as a season starter for horses like Ghaiyyath (Dubawi), Cloth Of Stars (Sea The Stars) and Iresine’s own sire Manduro (Monsun).

The beautifully-bred Cloth Of Stars took the Prix d’Harcourt en route to taking this race back in 2017. A short neck away from victory behind him was Vadeni’s connections’ own fledging sire Zarak.

Zarak enjoyed a stakes double just last weekend that will count significantly towards justifying his leap from a stud fee of €25,000 to €60,000 in 2023. Zarak is represented by the very lightly-raced Sabio Cen who is trained by a man who you could argue has the best pedigree of them all.

More Head-lines to be written around famous family?

Christopher Head carries the weight of generations of genius on his shoulders being a descendant of the renowned Head family of Treve and Goldikova (et al) fame, but has begun his career with a purpose that suggests he might be up to the task.

With two live Classic contenders already on his hands in the shape of G1 winner Blue Rose Cen (Churchill) and shock improver Big Rock (Rock Of Gibraltar), could Sabio Cen (Zarak) be another headline act for his team?

Sabio Cen’s dam Darma (Danehill Dancer) is a cast-off from his chief rival Vadeni’s owner-breeder the Aga Khan. Darma was culled in 2018 for €52,000, the year before her first and only stakes winner to date Dariyma (City Zip) hit the track. She was best as a four-year-old, as was Zarkava’s star son and sire of Sabio Cen - Zarak.

The unknown quantity of the race, Christopher Head’s charge has raced for three seasons and run only three times. Yet to contest a stakes and from one of the Aga Khan’s more precocious distaff pedigrees, followers of the rookie trainer will be hoping he knows something more than we do at this stage.

G3 Prix Noailles winner Junko (Intello) has fallen short when tried beyond G3 company on every attempt to date but in the hands of Andre Fabre and from the family of the super freak that is Timeform 140-rated Eclipse Horse Of The Year and Breeders’ Cup Classic Champion Flightline (Tapit), could he find the improvement to feature here?

Out of the black type mare Lady Zuzu who is by top damsire Dynaformer, he shares his G1 winning third dam Fantastic Find (Mr Prospector) with Flightline who boasts Fantastic Find’s dual G1 winning daughter Finder’s Fee (Storm Cat) as his third dam.

OK, Flightline looked special from the outset, but he was far from precocious as it wasn’t until December as a three-year-old until he made his stakes debut.

Prix du Jockey Club winner Intello could be considered disappointing overall in his second career given his race record and pedigree but does have two Group 1 winners to date. Junko has as good credentials as any to be his third. Far be it from us to question the maestro Monsieur Fabre and Junko’s exceptional owner-breeders Wertheimer and Frere.

Click on the image to order your copy of Timeform’s Flat Horses to Follow 2023 from Amazon

Rounding out the field is Saeed bin Suroor’s Real World (Dark Angel). The five-year-old gelding has rarely run a bad race in 16 starts. Unfortunately, two of those have come from his two sole starts this year in Dubai and so it is difficult to see him featuring amongst such a deep field. He did finish just shy of two lengths adrift of world beater Baaeed on his final start in 2022 though so he is more than entitled to take his place.

Despite a regrettable late absence in the shape of Irish Champion Stakes victor Luxembourg (Camelot), this still ranks as one of the most competitive renewals of the Prix Ganay in recent memory.

In a Group 1 field that would not look out of place south west of London in the middle of June, will it be the race fit Simca Mille who grabs the opportunity to down potentially race-rusty rivals?

Could the only filly in the field and Prix de Diane victress Nashwa’s (Frankel) conqueror in last year’s Prix de l’Opera Place du Carrousel pick up where she left off in 2022? Or will last year’s Arc runner-up and Coral Eclipse winner Vadeni start his season with a bang and maintain his third crop sire Churchill’s growing momentum?

Four lengths adrift in that vintage renewal of the Coral Eclipse was aforementioned Bay Bridge, one of New Bay’s headline colts. His trainer Sir Michael Stoute has started the season with more gusto than usual and the first horse to conquer Baaeed as well as Derby winner Adayar in the process is likely to have his optimum conditions.

All bar Vadeni fluffed their lines in their Classic seasons, but that is behind them now and 2023 is a clean slate.

It's almost unfathomable to even imagine such a deep line-up at this early stage of the season. The 1000 and 2000 Guineas are a week away and after a thrilling week at Punchestown and Sandown drawing their season to a close, our National Hunt stars are off to the paddocks.

It is with great pleasure to announce, the Flat is well and truly back.

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

Like what you've read?