23 October 2020
Photo scoopdyga.com
October, Saint-Cloud
CRITÉRIUM INTERNATIONAL
Group 1, 2-year-olds, 1,600m, €150,000
Created in 2001
Last winner: Van Gogh (c2, USA by American Pharoah and Imagine, by Sadler's Wells), owned by Tabor, Smith & Magnier, bred by Barronstown Stud, trained by Aidan O'Brien, ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot.
Record-time: 1’27’’1, Royal Meeting (2018)
The race is run in 2021 for the 20th time
The 2020 edition
Saturday 24 October 2020, Saint-Cloud. - It was with great ease that Irish raider Van Gogh (American Pharoah) won the Critérium International (Gr1), his seventh race of the season, over the Val d'Or heavy mile. Held back early by Pierre-Charles Boudot, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt came along the outer row to gain the upper hand over the leading Normandy Bridge (Le Havre), who stayed on well to stay second at four lengths. He beat the favourite Jadoomi (Holy Roman Emperor), who had galloped alongside him and struggled to keep the third-place.
Van Gogh had therefore raced six times and only won his maiden two races prior this one, before taking second place in the Autumn Stakes (Gr3) at Newmarket - behind One Ruler, 2nd in the Doncaster Futurity Trophy (Gr1) contested that same Saturday at Doncaster-, without a very easy run in the rear.
He's out of the champion filly Imagine (Sadler’s Wells), who also ran six times in less than two months at 2 and won her only group race that year in her fifth attempt. At 3, she still went on to win the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Gr1), then the Epsom Oaks (Gr1), for her last outing. Van Gogh is her eleventh foal, her best so far being Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Gr1) winner Horatio Nelson (Danehill). This is the family of champions Generous and Triptych, nicknamed the "Iron Lady".
History
This race is very much in its infancy, having only been created in 2001. It shares its name with an older sibling, the Critérium International created in 1893 and run over the 1,100-metre straight at Longchamp until 1910. Back then, its winner was rewarded with 25,000 F, equivalent to about €100,000 today. Its honours list includes the names of some future Classic winners, like Perth (1898, Poule d'Essai, Jockey Club, Grand Prix), Semendria (1899, Poule d'Essai, Diane, Grand Prix, Vermeille), Gouvernant (1903, Poule d'Essai), Jardy (1904, 2nd in the English Derby at Epsom), Azalée (1908, 2nd in the Poule d'Essai) and Marsa (1909, Diane).
The new version owes its existence to the major modifications made to the race calendar for 2 year-olds at the start of the 21st century. These changes were introduced following the scrapping of the Prix de la Salamandre. The distance has been set at one mile, to begin with, and the race run at Saint-Cloud, then shortened to 7 furlongs in 2015, and back over one mile in 2020. It had gone to ParisLongchamp in 2019. The race was cancelled in 2017 due to a protest from a group of trainers. It took place in Chantilly in 2018 to preserve the ParisLongchamp turf for the spring. It is now back at Saint-Cloud.
The first new-format Critérium International in 2001 ended in victory for Act One. Bred by Gerald Leigh, trained at Chantilly by Jonathan Pease, and ridden by Thierry Gillet, he edged out Ireland’s Landseer by half a length. The following year, both proceeded to confirm their high quality, Act One by winning the Prix Lupin and only losing out by a whisker in the Prix du Jockey Club to the top 3-year-old of his generation Sulamani, and Landseer by lifting the Poule d'Essai des Poulains.
This glorious start continued in the next two editions with victories by Dalakhani (2002) and Bago (2003), who both showed their impressive talent by going on to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The race’s pedigree then took a dive when Hélios Quercus (2004), Carlotamix (2005), Thewayyouare (2007), Zafisio (2008) and Jan Vermeer (2009) took the laurels. Nevertheless, the classic level was achieved by two Irish winners: Mount Nelson (2006), who went on to win the Eclipse Stakes, and Roderic O’Connor (2010), who won the Irish 2000 Guineas as a 3-year-old. In 2011, French horse French Fifteen took the laurels ahead of three foreign steeds and went on to confirm her talent as a 3-year-old by finishing second in the 2,000 Guineas to British-bred Camelot.
2nd in 2018, the Irish raider Hermosa went on to win both the Newmarket and Curragh 1,000 Guineas.
Foreign winners
After 18 runnings, The French count 8 wins, British (4), Irish (5) and German (1) yards completing the roll of honour.
Owners
- Susan Magnier/Michael Tabor/Derrick Smith & associés (5 wins): Mount Nelson (2006), Jan Vermeer (2009), Roderic O’Connor (2010), Johannes Vermeer (2015), Van Gogh (2020) ;
- Aga Khan IV (2 wins): Dalakhani (2002) & Carlotamix (2005) ;
- Godolphin (2 wins): Thunder Snow (2016) & Royal Meeting (2018).
Trainers
- Aidan O’Brien (5 wins): Mount Nelson (2006), Jan Vermeer (2009), Roderic O’Connor (2010), Johannes Vermeer (2015), Van Gogh (2020) ;
- André Fabre (2 wins): Carlotamix (2005) & Thewayyouare (2007) ;
- Jonathan Pease (2 wins): Act One (2001) & Bago (2003) ;
- Saeed bin Suroor (2 wins): Thunder Snow (2016) & Royal Meeting (2018).
Riders
- Christophe Soumillon (4 wins): Dalakhani (2002), Carlotamix (2005), Thunder Snow (2016) & Royal Meeting (2018) ;
- Thierry Gillet (2 wins): Act One (2001) & Bago (2003).