PRIX CAMBACÉRÈS - Léopard du Berlais follows in the footsteps of Losange Bleu

Press Release                                                       Sunday, 16 November, 2025

48H DE L’OBSTACLE  – Auteuil

PRIX CAMBACÉRÈS - GRANDE COURSE DE HAIES DES 3 ANS

Léopard du Berlais follows in the footsteps of Losange Bleu

Just like yesterday’s champion Losange Bleu (Martaline), Léopard du Berlais (Ectot) fully embraced his role as favourite in the Prix Cambacérès – Grande Course de Haies des 3 Ans, taking the lead from the start. The pace was strong yet his rivals sat close behind… and it was only on entering the home straight that two things became clear: first, that Léopard du Berlais would never be threatened, so obvious was his superiority; and second, that the minor placings would be contested – at a respectable distance –between Bourbon Has(Moises Has), Shannon Maestro (Doctor Dino) and Mountain Ridge (Gutaifan).

Indeed, after jumping the last hurdle, the champion owned by Pierre Pilarski and trained by David Cottin simply drew away from his rivals with ease, his jockey Johnny Charron supporting him only with hands-and-heels, never reaching for the whip. Behind him, however, the battle was fierce along the stands’ rail between the three chasers of the new boss of French juvenile hurdlers. Seven and a half lengths separated Léopard du Berlais from his three pursuers; and another twelve lengths separated that trio from the eventual fifth…

Official result

PRIX CAMBACÉRÈS - GRANDE COURSE DE HAIES DES 3 ANS

1st  LÉOPARD DU BERLAIS (Johnny CHARRON)

2nd  BOURBON HAS (Angelo ZULIANI)

3rd SHANNON MAESTRO (Kilian DUBOURG)

Time: 4'23"62. Margins: 7 1/2 – 1 1/4 – Short Head – 12.

Reactions from the connections

Pierre Pilarski, co-owner (with his son Hugo and Haras du Berlais) of Léopard du Berlais, 1st

“It’s a huge relief for me and for David [Cottin, his trainer], whom I send my love. We’ve been extremely tense for five weeks. I also want to thank Haras du Berlais for agreeing to keep the horse in France, because we had some very attractive offers from abroad. I think it was important to keep him here, and we made the right choice. (…) Today, this is not just a victory; it’s also the promise that maybe, one day, we’ll have a successor to Losange Bleu. I was watching him yesterday on Equidia when he won the Grand Prix d’Automne, and I was going crazy. We really need horses like that for our sport.”

François Nicolle, trainer of Bourbon Has, 2nd (Royan, Charente-Maritime)

“We started off very gently, giving him a little countryside campaign because we weren’t ready to come straight to Auteuil. He’s a very tender colt, not hardened yet. But he’s got a lot of class – I’ve been saying it for a long time. (…) I’m not saying we came here boldly today, but it’s still a bit like that: he’d just won by six lengths in what was basically a public workout, but we still had to dare running him in the big race. Well, I dared – and I was right! Obviously, if I had finished sixth, I wouldn’t be telling you the same thing, but today, he is incredible! Angelo [Zuliani, his jockey] told me: He’s a champion. For me, he’ll be among the best four-year-olds at Auteuil next year. He’s a very good horse, and it would have been very interesting to see him against the good ones from the spring, who were absent today. The winner is, in my opinion, above the rest, and behind him it’s all the others… but I know my horse will make a name for himself next year.”

Credit : Scoop Dyga