28 April 2024
Photo scoopdyga.com
Sunday, 28 April 2024, ParisLongchamp Racecourse, Paris — This year's €300,000 Prix Ganay (Gr1) with its nine runners promised a thrilling showdown, and fans at ParisLongchamp were treated to exactly that: the top five finishers were separated by less than a length in a sensational race, with Haya Zark (Zarak) just managing to hold off Zarir (Frankel), who was competing in his first group race after two wins earlier in the season.
Closing from the back of the pack, Feed the Flame (Kingman) snatched third place from the Irish visitor Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett), who was just a nose ahead of Horizon Doré (Dabirsim).
The pace was set by the visitor Crypto Force (Time Test), joined by the Prix d’Harcourt (Gr2) winner Zarakem (Zarak), with Zarir and Haya Zark trailing closely after an animated start, followed by Birr Castle (Cloth of Stars) and Fantastic Moon (Sea the Moon).
In the home straight, Zarakem was the first to challenge, battling it out with Haya Zark, who took over but was soon threatened by Al Riffa, and Zarir, who found a gap on the inside, with Feed the Flame finishing strongly on the outside track past Horizon Doré, both having come from the rear. However, none could quite catch Haya Zark, with Zarir coming closest at the post.
Arrivée magnifique du Prix Ganay (Gr1) #ParisLongchamp et victoire de Haya Zark (Zarak), pour son éleveur Odette Fau devant Zarir (Frankel). pic.twitter.com/GWMoRzw9Ru
— France Galop (@francegalop) April 28, 2024
Haya Zark, who won the Prix Exbury (Gr3) by ten lengths in March at Saint-Cloud and hadn't raced since, is typically known for excelling on heavy tracks. Yet, the five-year-old pulled off quite the feat on a ground perhaps firmer than many thought necessary for him to show his best form.
Promising as a three-year-old, Haya Zark had finished fourth in the Prix Greffulhe (Gr2) won by the champion Onesto (Frankel) in 2022.
Bred by his owner, Odette Fau, Haya Zark is out of Haya City (Elusive City), who did not stand out in three starts. Haya Zark is her first winner. His granddam, Haya Samma (Pivotal), did not race. At stud, however, she produced Haya Landa (Lando), who was third in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Gr1) and the Prix de la Nonette (Gr2), and second in the Prix Allez France (Gr3), as well as Haya of Fortune (Soldier of Fortune), third in a Critérium de l’Ouest (L) and dam of a recent winner, Haya of Star (Cloth of Stars).
A full sister to Haya Zark in born in 2020, and has not run, while an Anodin colt was born last year.