€80,000 Gérald de Geoffre (Gr3): Gallerist fills the frame again
Photo scoopdyga.com
Thursday, 31st August 2023, Hippodrome ParisLongchamp (Paris). – The €80,000 Prix Gérald de Geoffre (Gr3), a race over 1 mile and 7 furlongs restricted to 3-year-olds, is the new name for the Prix de Lutèce. This race has traditionally acted as a springboard for young stayers, parallel to the Prix Gladiateur (Gr3), which is open to older horses.
Not much happened until the home straight, when Gallerist (Zoffany) swung wide to challenge the leading duo of Winter Pudding (Seahenge) and Double Major (Daiwa Major). These two rivals pushed him to the limit till the end but Gallerist was always going to hold and won by a head over Double Major, who fought valiantly but could never find an edge. Winter Pudding hung in before falling back in the last 100 metres to finish third, three lengths behind, beating the favourite, Sevenna's Knight (Camelot). Despite a slow start to the race, the tracking data indicated that four out of the six runners completed the final 3 furlongs in under 35 seconds.
Gallerist notched up his fifth consecutive win. The gelding racing for Hollymount France made his debut in February with a fifth-place finish on the all-weather track at Chantilly. He corrected this by scoring his first victory over 1m4f at Lyon-La Soie, also on the all-weather. Subsequently victorious in a "class 2" event over 1m5f at Chateaubriant, he repeated his triumph over 1m4f on turf at Lyon-Parilly. This was followed by a win at the Listed level at Toulouse. Competing in his first Group 3 event, he now seems ready to step up to even higher levels.
Gallerist was privately purchased for €40,000 as a yearling at the Arqana sales by NBB Racing (Nicolas Bertran de Balanda). His dam, the maiden Anais (New Approach), is a sister to Asi Siempre (El Prado), a Group 1 winner in the USA and the dam of Outstrip (Exceed and Excel), a Breeders’ Cup winner at 2 years old and placed in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Gr1) at 3.
A 2-year-old colt by Almanzor is currently in training with Tim Donworth.