€80,000 Perth (Gr3): Belbek finds the post again

Sunday, 22 October 2023, Saint-Cloud Racecourse (Hauts-de-Seine). - An autumn counterpart to the Prix Edmond Blanc (Gr3), which takes place at the very beginning of the season over the same 1-mile Saint-Cloud trip, the €80,000 Prix Perth (Gr3) produced an odd finish. Indeed, the two runners saddled by André Fabre, the returning favourite Tribalist (Farhh) - notably the winner of the Prix Edmond Blanc in April - and Belbek (Showcasing), victor of last year's Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Gr1), did not move to the outer rail as they entered the home straight. Instead, they kept to the inside, in contrast to The Revenant (Dubawi) - second in the "Edmond Blanc" on his part - who sought the support of the outer rail. Belbek took the lead from Tribalist in the final 200 yards and did indeed finish half a length ahead of The Revenant, with Tribalist a further two lengths back in third...

This season, Belbek has failed to replicate the Group 1 success of his debut campaign. Third in the Prix Djebel (Gr3), he returned two months later to finish fifth in the Prix Paul de Moussac (Gr3) and did not make the podium in either the Prix Jean Prat (Gr1) or the "Moulin de Longchamp (Gr1)". However, he had recently claimed a promising third place in the 1-mile Prix Daniel Wildenstein (Gr2).

Bred by Sumbe in Normandy, Belbek is the second foal out of Bee Queen (Makfi), a Juddmonte mare purchased for £50,000 at the end of her three-year-old maiden year in Newmarket. Her 2nd dam is the champion Banks Hill (Danehill), trained, like Belbek, by André Fabre. A colt by Gleneagles out of Bee Queen was born in 2021.