Latest news with #MaximeGuyon
Irish Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Joseph O'Brien aiming for Group One glory in France on Sunday with Green Sense
Joseph O'Brien will try upset his father's Irish Oaks hotpot Minnie Hauk at the Curragh on Saturday but his big-race ambitions also extend to Paris 24 hours later. Top French rider Maxime Guyon has been engaged for O'Brien's Green Sense in the €119,000 Group Two Goffs Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly. The Irish hope is the sole filly taking on four colts in the historic six-furlong juvenile event won by Blackbeard in 2022. Green Sense, a Curragh winner on her debut in April, was fancied for Royal Ascot's Albany Stakes but failed to fire behind Venetian Sun. READ MORE The top-class Ramatuelle beat male opposition in this two years ago and Green Sense is up against Venetian Sun's stable companion Super Soldier, unplaced behind Gstaad in the Coventry at Ascot. His trainer Karl Burke won the Papin last year with Arabie. Another English hope, Tadej, was sixth in the Coventry. O'Brien is rapidly closing in on €1.5 million in prizemoney in Ireland this season and Wemighttakedlongway could sweep him past it in style if emerging on top in the Oaks. The trainer is triple-handed in Sunday's Group Three Al Shira'aa Meadow Court Stakes at the Curragh and he has snapped up Ryan Moore for Uluru. The sole raider for this contest is Mark Prescott's Tasmania. The 2023 French Oaks third was previously at HQ when unplaced behind Bluestocking in last year's Pretty Polly. She returns on the back of a comeback effort on the all-weather at Newcastle and forecast softer conditions should suit her well. Sunday's Curragh feature is the Group Two Romanised Minstrel Stakes, where Diego Velazquez steps back to seven furlongs for the first time since his racecourse debut. The Frankel colt has promised to break through to the top level without ever quite managing it, but still boasts a standout 118 rating in this company. There could, however, be significant improvement to come after his return to action behind Docklands in the Queen Anne at Ascot. Elsewhere, the National Hunt campaign continues in Britain with Gavin Cromwell sending Ballysax Hank for the featured £100,000 (€115,000) Summer Plate in Market Rasen. Harry Cobden rides the sole Irish hope who is having just his fourth start over fences. In other jumps news, Horse Racing Ireland has confirmed the three-mile Grade One novice chase at Leopardstown's Christmas festival has been scrapped. Instead, it has reversed the decision to finish the two-mile novice event that had traditionally been a St Stephen's Day highlight. That contest will return on December 26th and as a result Limerick's Faugheen Chase has been extended in trip. 'Following a review of the 2024/2025 programme, it was deemed optimal to reinstate the Christmas Novice Steeplechase at Leopardstown and create a greater distance differential with that race and the Faugheen Novice Steeplechase by extending the Limerick Grade 1 by 1.5 furlongs,' a HRI statement said. Racing's ruling body also said this season will see changes to black-type bumper races. They include excluding seven-year-old horses and older from all Graded and Listed bumpers. It comes after the seven-year-old Redemption Day won the Grade One bumper at the Punchestown festival last year. He had finished runner-up in the race two years previously.
New Paper
27-05-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Sosie, last in, first out in Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan
PARIS ParisLongchamp racecourse played host on May 25 to a superb card featuring two Group 1 races, the €250,000 (S$365,000) Prix d'Ispahan (1,850m) and the €400,000 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier (3,100m), as well as a Group 3 event, the 150,000 Prix du Palais-Royal (1,400m). The Prix d'Ispahan was claimed by a colt who is already emerging as one of the leading contenders for the upcoming Group 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2,400m), the world championship for thoroughbreds, set to take place at ParisLongchamp later this year on Oct 5. Already the winner of the Group 1 Prix Ganay (1,600m) just a month ago, Sosie ($8) handled the Prix d'Ispahan with aplomb by delivering a highly promising performance. With Maxime Guyon in the saddle, the Sea The Stars four-year-old, who was also supplemented late into the race, finished ahead of British raider Sardinian Warrior (Christophe Soumillon). Next on his agenda is the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes (2,000m), at Sandown in England on July 5. Thereafter, the focus will shift to preparing for the Arc. "There was a slight concern if Sosie would have enough turn of foot for a race over 1,850 metres, which is a different test compared to 2,400 metres," said Pierre-Yves Bureau, representative of Wertheimer & Frere, the owner and breeder of the champion. "Maxime made sure he was always well-positioned in the race. He was very impressive, and I believe he's simply very good. "He's now reached full physical maturity. He looked absolutely magnificent. "He comes from a staying family, but his dam was more of a miler." Legendary trainer Andre Fabre said Sosie's late entry into the Prix d'Ispahan was to get a springboard towards the Eclipse. "The Wertheimer brothers are keen to run him in the Eclipse. We had to test him over a shorter distance," said Fabre. "I was delighted to see a horse who can run over a mile and a half and over to have enough speed to beat nice horses today." Guyon was equally delighted with Sosie's ability to rise to the occasion over a trip which is not necessarily his strongest suit. "It's fantastic. He was a little bit lazy over this distance, but he was very strong at the finish. "I'm really happy because he proved he can go quick and win over both 1,850m and 2,400m. "He's a real Group 1 horse and a real champion." The Prix Vicomtesse Vigier, which was upgraded to Group 1 status in 2025, went to a newcomer at this elite level: Candelari ($16), racing in the colours of the Aga Khan Studs and trained by Francis-Henri Graffard. With the operation's first jockey, Mickael Barzalona, serving a suspension, it was Clement Lecoeuvre who successfully stood in for the Frankel four-year-old. This marks the jockey's first Group 1 win in France, having previously enjoyed success at this level in Germany. "It's crazy for me, riding a horse like this. This horse is getting more and more experience with racing," said Lecoeuvre. "I travelled very well behind the pace. After the corner, when the other jockeys start to attack the lead, a gap appeared in front of me, and he sprinted very well. "It's my first Group race win, let alone first Group 1 win. It's magical, hopefully it's not the last." Finally, Topgear, a son of Wootton Bassett, made a winning return to action in the Group 3 Prix du Palais-Royal for trainer Christopher Head, jockey Stephane Pasquier and owner Hisaaki Saito. The six-year-old entire is now set to be seen again during the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting. FRANCE GALOP
