23 March 2023
Photo scoopdyga.com
Sunday, March 19th, 2023, Auteuil Racecourse (Paris). - This is one of the charms of racing and jumping in particular: even in the big events, anything is possible. Few people had bet on the 6-year-old Rosario Baron in the €155,000 GSC Masters - Troytown Chase (Gr3), who had just won a coveted race over fences at Pau (64). However, his connections had every right to believe in him, as he went pillar to post at odds of 12-1. Soon at the head of affairs, he didn't let any of his rivals get a look in. And Baptiste Le Clerc, who was riding him for the first time, took advantage of this situation to score an easy victory on his mount. Rosario Baron is trained at Maisons-Laffitte (78). He is the first group winner and the first Auteuil winner of his breeder, Jean-Yves Baron (53). Thanks to this victory in the second leg of the Grand Steeple-Chase Masters, the combination sealed their passage for Sunday, 21 May, for the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on Sunday, 21 May! He shone the spotlight on the colours of Mauricette and Frédéric de Sousa, themselves the co-owners of the group winning La Danza. Second place in Prix Troytown went to the surprising Suroit, a horse bred in France but trained in the Czech Republic by Josef Vana Junior. The Gr1 winning Figuero was third...
QUOTES :
Daniela Mele (Maisons-Laffitte (78/Yvelines region), the trainer of Rosario Baron, 1st
"He’s a superhorse. You have to ride him at the front end of the race. If he gets behind, the horse tends to switch off. He's a horse that does what you ask of him. Today, it was Rosario Baron who wanted to go on. He attacked the fences like an experienced pro. I was afraid that he wouldn't get home – loathing to setting up the race for the other horses. I would be tempted to head straight for Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris!"
Josef Vana Junior (based at Žlutice, Czech Republic), the trainer of Suroit, 2nd
"Going to the last fence, Suroit almost fell, and I almost fell over in the stands... I’m very happy with his race. According to his jockey, Jo Bartos, he would have won had he not made that mistake because he found the courage to claw his way back into the race. He negotiated the big obstacles on the far side of the course where he fell last time, and that is a very important pointer for the Grande Steeple - Chase de Paris. Physically speaking, he’s a big horse, and he’s error-prone when it comes to the smaller obstacles. He exudes class and deserves to take his chance most coveted race of the French [jumping] programme. I think he will skip the Prix Murat (Gr2) and will have his final prep in the Prix Ingre (Gr3)."
François Nicolle (Saint Augustin, in the Charente Maritime Departement), the trainer of Figuero, 3rd)
"It's a good comeback effort – given the weight he was carrying. He's peaking steadily. The horses which finished in front of him in this race had already run this year. He will now head to the Prix Ingré."