Puerto Rico lands Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud

Beaten in his first four starts, Puerto Rico has taken his form to a new level in the autumn, shedding his maiden in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster before successfully stepping up to the top table in the Lagardere on Arc weekend.

The Wootton Bassett colt was a ready winner at ParisLongchamp and came out of the race well enough to persuade connections to supplement him for this mile contest despite the presence of three stablemates in the seven strong field

Puerto Rico, who returned the 4/7 favourite, was always in the vanguard under Christophe Soumillon with the re-opposing Doncaster third Cape Orator in close attendance.

Puerto Rico showed his rivals a clean pair of heels when asked to put the race to bed and only needed to be kept up to his work to score with something in hand.

The win provided Aidan O'Brien with his 24th Group 1 victory of the calendar year as he looks to beat his own record of 28 top level victories.

Puerto Rico is 12/1 for the 2000 Guineas and 14/1 for the Derby with Sky Bet.

Soumillon told Sky Sports Racing: "He's an amazing horse. The ground was lovely for him, he was really relaxed in front and I knew the distance would be no problem for him.

"Aidan told me to make the running and don't try to do anything different and I rode him with a lot of confidence and he responded really strongly in the straight.

"At Longchamp I started very early in the straight, there was a lot of noises and stuff on the inside track and I think he looked around a bit when I hit the first [winning] post and that's why he hung out a bit. Today he was much more concentrated, a little bit more mature with a race like that under his belt and I won hands and heels like last time.

"This year I've ridden three or four horses for Aidan that could be Classic horses for next season. I'm just hoping now that they'll have a nice winner and be able to improve for next year. He has an amazing crop of juveniles and the season is not finished yet."

The successful trainer added: "He's a lovely horse, he's very happy in front and he's always happy to get a lead.

"He's an unusual horse, he's a lot of speed and he stays as well and we wanted to see how comfortable he would be over a mile. He's a very classy horse. I would say Guineas horse first and then a Derby horse.

"He's uncomplicated, he's relaxed, he quickens, he's loads of speed and he goes on the ground; he'd be very happy on fast ground [too], we were thinking of taking him to the Breeders' Cup."

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