€80,000 Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte (Gr3): Certain Lad leads the way

ParisLongchamp, Sunday, September 8th, 2024 – The pacesetters dominated the €80,000 Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte (Gr3), a waeights-for-age race for older horses over ten furlongs. Certain Lad (Clodovil), winner of the Grand Prix de Compiègne (L) and twice placed subsequently in Britain, started as the favourite and set the pace alongside Al Mubhir (Frankel), with Haya Zark (Zarak), returning to a soft surface which he is believed to relish, tracking them closely. In the final stages, Haya Zark took some time to reach momentum but ultimately got the better of Al Mubhir, albeit conceding a length to Certain Lad.

Certain Lad was purchased for £13,000 as a yearling and then bought back for £170,000 at the 2019 Tattersalls sales – he is now an 8-year-old gelding. He is the best performer out of Chelsey Jayne (Galileo), a maiden mare who is a full sister to the Listed winner Classic Legend and a half-sister to Jallota (Rock of Gibraltar), winner of the Prix du Pin (Gr3).