9 May 2020
Photo Sottsass : scoopdyga.com
Reprogrammed more than a month after its initial date of April 5, the Prix d’Harcourt (Gr2), for aged horses over 2,00m/10f, is the traditional prep race for the Prix Ganay price (Gr1), which will take place this year on June 14.
Nine runners line up on Monday at the start of this somewhat exceptional edition, since horses trained abroad cannot participate. The prize money has also been lowered 30% to €90,000 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown and horse racing closure which has affected French racing revenues.
The best-rated horse of the lot is Sottsass (Siyouni), European 3yrs champion last year. This winner of the 2019 QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club (Gr1) is rated 122lbs. Next, come Shaman (Shamardal, 115lbs) and Way to Paris (Champs Elysées, 111lbs).
- Sottsass (FRA, c3 by Siyouni and Starlet’s Sister, by Galileo). Rating 122
Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget for White Birch Farm, bred by Écurie des Monceaux, he was bought as a yearling for € 340,000 at Deauville. A good winner at 2 at Clairefontaine, he impressed in his six lengths success in the Prix de Suresnes (L) for his second outing of the season and confirmed with a flash of class in the QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club (Gr1), beating the race and course record on this occasion.
Winner for his return in September of the Prix Niel (Gr3) at ParisLongchamp - which earned him a 2lbs penalty here-, he placed an acceleration that day which showed the mile-and-a-half distance was not to be an issue, which he confirmed by taking the third place in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Gr1).
- Royal Julius (FRA, h7 by Royal Applause and Hflah, by Dubawi) Rating: 107
Purchased € 40,000 as a yearling, the first foal of a sister to Critérium de Saint-Cloud (Gr1)-winner Goldamix (Linamix), he started in 2015 at 2 in Chantilly and then won its second outing at Deauville when trained at Mont-de-Marsan in the deep Southwest of the country. Third in the Prix Hocquart (Gr2) after failing in the Prix de Fontainebleau (Gr3) over the mile, he finished seventh in the Prix du Jockey Club won by Almanzor. A Listed winner at Nantes at 4, after his transfer to Calas, in Provence, where he’s trained since by Jérôme Reynier, he was regularly placed at the best level afterwards and went on to win his Group 2 race in Rome in 2017 over 9 furlongs. He continued to play his usual part in France and Italy, but also in the Middle East since he placed in Doha in early 2019, and won in Bahrain in early 2020 before taking a fifth place last February, as he went back to Qatar.
- Way To Paris (GB, h7 by Champs Elysees and Gray Way, by Cozzene) rating: 111
Purchased for £50,000 as a yearling, this brother to an Italian Group 1 winner began his career in Italy, where he won 3 years at Listed level, and followed his trainer, Andrea Marcialis, when he moved to France in spring 2016. Since then, this grey has performed regularly over distances varying from 10 to 14 furlongs. He had a good run at the start of 2019 over long distances, culminating in his success in the Prix Maurice de Nieuil (Gr2) over this racecourse but over 14 furlongs. Clearly beaten in his last two attempts in 2019 in the Prix du Cadran (Gr1) and the Prix Royal-Oak (Gr1), he was sixth for his return in the Prix Exbury (Gr3), over this same distance at Saint-Cloud for his seasonal return.
- Syrtis (GB, h4 by Frankel and Sabratah, by Oasis Dream) rating: 107
Purchased for € 350,000 as a yearling, he is out of a double Listed sprint winner in France. Winner of his first race at 2, then second in the Prix de Condé (Gr3), he got the same result the following spring in Prix Noailles (Gr3) over 2,100m/10.5f, then over 9 furlongs in the 1 Prix de Guiche (Gr3). Out all summer, he won again for his only race in the autumn on heavy ground. Returning to the Chantilly all-weather track in March this year, he once again finished second for his first attempt over a distance as short as 6.5 furlongs.
- Folamour (GB, g5 by Intello and Zagzig, by Selkirk) rating: 109
Bred by the Wertheimers, he won on his fourth attempt after three places in the spring of his 3-year-old season. Clearly beaten in the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Gr1), he finished this first campaign with a third place in the Prix du Prince d’Orange (Gr3). Winner for his return at 4 in a Listed over 1 ½ mile, then second over the same distance in the Prix d'Hédouville (Gr3), he then took the fourth place in the Grand Prix de Chantilly (Gr2). Out all summer, he only competed once more, when third in the Prix Lyphard (L) at Deauville over the all-weather track in November.
- Shaman (Ire, h4 by Shamardal and Only Green, by Green Desert) rating: 115
Bred by the Wertheimers, out of a Listed winner and Group-placed over 7 furlongs, from the family also of Group 1 performers Occupandiste and Intello, he won first time out, in the summer of his 2-year-old season. Placed later, he failed in the Grand Critérium (Gr1) but won again at the end of that year. A winner again upon his return in the Prix Omnium II (L) over 1 mile, then in the Prix La Force (Gr3) over 9 furlongs, he took the second place in The Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas, Gr1) before failing at the Royal Ascot meeting against the best European 3yrs over the mile. Second in the Prix Jacques le Marois (Gr1) for his return to France, he finally bowed out on a third place in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein (Gr2) and is making his seasonal come back here.
- Simona (f4, FRA by Siyouni and Monava, by El Prado) Rating: 103
A newcomer at the best level, the 4-year-old mare Simona won easily the first Turf Group race of the year in Europe, the Prix Exbury (Gr3), over 10 furlongs and very heavy ground in March at Saint-Cloud. Four times unplaced at Listed level at the end of last year Simona races for her breeders Carolyn and Nigel Elwes and is trained in Chantilly by Francis-Henri Graffard.
Simona was bred in France. She is the fifth foal out of Monava, who was purchased for €35,000 after her racing career at Arqana sales. She had won only once for her breeders, the Wertheimer brothers, at the minor Croise-Laroche track, but her dam Moiava was a champion 2-year-old in France and descended from a consistent family providing a steady flow of good winners, as she was herself.
- Villa Rosa (f5, FRA by Doctor Dino and Villa Joyeuse, by Kahyasi) Rating: 109
Bred by the Wertheimers, from a versatile family which gave winners on the flat as well as over jumps, she won twice at Listed level at the end of the season at a 3-years-old. She won four times in her second season, last year at age 4, notably in the Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte (Gr3) at the expense of the good Intellogent. She also made her comeback this year in March at Chantilly over the all-weather, when third over 9.5 furlongs to the good Ziyad.
- Soudania (f4, GB by Sea The Stars and Sahel, by Monsun) Rating: 108
Bred by the Wertheimers, she has won four of her six races last year, including the Prix du Prince d’Orange (Gr3). However, she had to settle for fourth place in her last outing of the season, in the Prix du Conseil de Paris (Gr2), where she carried a 2lbs penalty. Soudania's dam Sahel was bought € 320,000 a yearling in Deauville. She is a full sister to the German champions Schiaparelli (Monsun), Samum (Monsun) and Salve Regina (Monsun), all Group 1 winners, and of Sanwa (Monsun), the dam of hot sire Sea the Moon (Sea the Stars), winner of the German Derby and out of the same cross than of Soudania’s. Sahel's best foal is Sortilège, a winner of the Premio Lydia Tesio (Gr1).