2 September 2020
Photo scoopdyga.com
September, ParisLongchamp
Prix de Lutèce
Group 3, 3-year-olds, 3,000m/1m7f, €56,000
Created in 1978
Last winner: Paix (f3, IRE by Muhaarar ex Pacifique, by Montjeu), owned by Skymarc Farm & Écurie des Monceaux, bred by Skymarc Farm & Écurie des Monceaux, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, ridden by Christophe Soumillon.
Record-time : Coastal Path, 3’7’’8 (2007)
The race is run in 2021 for the 44th time
The 2020 edition
Thursday, September 3, 2020, ParisLongchamp. - She may have taken a little longer than her dam to win her first race, but Paix (Muhaarar) was just as impressive when she took the Prix de Lutèce (Gr3) by storm and prevailed easily by one and a half length, beating the lads for the second time in her career. Set off at her own pace at the start of the 1m7f run of a race that is now used as a stepping stone towards either the Qatar Prix Chaudenay (Gr2) or the Qatar Prix de Royallieu (Gr1), she quickly regained ground between the rail and a file led by Blackwood (Manduro), flanked by Step By Step (Sidestep) on the front row. She slipped between them in the home stretch and then dominated the field, Step By Step keeping a brave second place, a neck ahead of the second favourite Measure of Time (Gleneagles), who travelled in 2nd last most of the time and finished very well but once again a tiny weeny late.
The favourite Ketil (Karakontie) was unable to join the fray in the end. German raider Kalifornia Queen (Lope de Vega), on the other hand, performed very well, finishing fifth, a head only behind her fellow from Germany Slogan (Adlerflug) despite her five pounds penalty.
Click here for the sectional timing of the race.
Like Paix, she is entered in a Qatar Prix de Royallieu (Gr1) which looks quite attracting by now.
Paix won for the first time in her third outing, in July over 1m4f at Clairefontaine, but immediately confirmed over the same distance in the Prix Frédéric de Lagrange (L), the Vichy Derby, against the colts. Third in the Prix Minerve (Gr3), the Deauville Oaks, she nevertheless won "her" race, leading the middle field to the post.
Paix is trained in Chantilly by Francis-Henri Graffard. The hammer fell at € 250,000 at the Deauville sales, but she is still racing for her breeders, namely Skymarc and the Écurie des Monceaux.
She is out of the 2011 winner of this very race, Pacifique (Montjeu), who then finished second in the Prix Chaudenay (Gr2) for her fifth and yet last appearance. She is her fourth foal. Pacifique also gave a Siyouni colt in 2019.
History
It was in 1864 that a race named the Prix Lutèce first figured on the Longchamp springtime program. With varying conditions, it continued to be run until 1968. After a ten-year gap, the Prix de Lutèce re-emerged in 1978. At Longchamp again but now in a September slot, it became a race for 3-year-old stayers, serving as a trial ahead of their encounter with their elders in late October’s Prix Royal Oak. Since then, its distance has remained fixed at 1 mile 7 furlongs. However, it was run at Saint-Cloud in 2016 and 2017, during Longchamp renovation works.
Owners
- Aga Khan IV (6 wins): Anazid (1986), Shaiybara (1993), Shamdala (2005), Shemina (2008), Verema (2012), Valirann (2013), Vazirabad (2015).
- Famille Rothschild (4 wins): Galant Vert (1983) for Guy, Russian Hope (1998), Epître (2000), Etendard Indien (2004) for Édouard.
- Mohammed Al Maktoum & Godolphin (3 wins): Mardonius (1989), Three Cheers (1997), Moonlight Spirit (2019).
- John Goldsmith (2 wins): Floripedes (1988), Dadarissime (1992).
- Ecurie Wildenstein (2 wins): Risk Seeker (2003), Wajir (2009).
- Famille Ullman (2 wins): Getaway (2006), Moonshiner (2016).
Trainers
- André Fabre (9 wins): Galant Vert (1983), Balsam (1987), Mardonius (1989), Epître (2000), Street Shaana (2001), Etendard Indien (2004), Getaway (2006), Coastal Path (2007), Brigantin (2010).
- Alain de Royer-Dupré (7 wins): Anazid (1986), Shamdala (2005), Shemina (2008), Pacifique (2011), Verema (2012) Valirann (2013), Vazirabad (2015).
- Elie Lellouche (4 wins): Tarator (1996), Risk Seeker (2003), Wajir (2009), Auvray (2014).
Riders
- Christophe Soumillon (7 wins): Etendard Indien (2004), Shamdala (2005), Getaway (2006), Shemina (2008), Vazirabad (2015), Darbuzan (2017), Paix (2020).
- Cash Asmussen (4 wins): Balsam (1987), Mardonius (1989), Sought Out (1991), Dadarissime (1992).