3 October 2020
Photo scoopdyga.com
Saturday, October 3, 2020, ParisLongchamp. - Already the winner of the 2019 Qatar Prix Dollar (Gr2) last year, Skalleti (Kendargent) easily doubled up, becoming the seventh horse to win the race twice in this 131st renewal.
Bred by Guy Pariente and owned by Jean-Claude Seroul, he still ran a thrilling race as he found himself locked up, 300 yards out, stuck by the rail behind Raging Storm (Galileo), who was giving in after trying to run away early on, and Patrick Sarsfield (Australia), who was leaning to the right. Maxime Guyon finally managed to get him out of this mess and the grey gelding won at the 2nd post by more than one length over Patrick Sarsfield, second with two and a half lengths to spare on the third-placed Dariyma (City Zip).
Trained in Provence, in the Calas training centre, by Jérôme Reynier, Skalleti won seven consecutive races on distances ranging from 8 to 10 furlongs, including two successes at Group 2 level in France and Italy, before taking a rest last Autumn. Third for his comeback after six months of absence with a 4lbs penalty, and again third in the Prix du Muguet (Gr2) won by Persian King, he found his way back to victory in the Prix Gontaut-Biron and confirmed here.
Bred by Guy Pariente, sold € 85,000 at the Deauville sales to bloodstock agent Alain Decrion, Skalleti is out of Skallet (Muhaymin), a Listed winner at Bordeaux. She also gave Skalleto (Kendargent), Listed-placed for Guy Pariente and a 4-year-old gelding Skazino (Kendargent), winner of 8 races. A Kendargent colt was born in 2019.
What they said
- Jérôme Reynier (trainer of Skalleti, 1st)
“Maxime Guyon has to make his presence felt to make sure he didn’t get blocked in his run., and thanks to this he was able to get out of the peloton, making a challenge down the inner and got the better of a horse who it looked like had slipped the field. He needed to be quite strong to pull that off. The Champions Stakes would be the race that would suit him the most but that comes quite quickly (in two weeks) and the logistics of taking a horse to England at the moment are complicated.
He will stay in Chantilly for a week and we will make our decision based on how he recovers and based on what our options are in terms of travel. It would be a shame however not to attempt a race like that, considering he hasn’t run that much this year and is in fantastic form.”
- Maxime Guyon (jockey of Skalleti, 1st)
« We won so easily there, he loves that ground. He really is an incredibly classy horse. The leader had only a rating of 33.5(74), so we were never too worried about pegging him back, especially on this ground. We would have been worried if it was a better horse in front but as it turned out it was the ones behind me that struggled to close. When I started to make a move through the field I really had a lot of horse. His trainer told me to try and come as late as I can because he only does what he needs to beat the rest.. It was very easy and I even eased up 20m from the line.”
- Lanfranco Dettori (jockey of Patrick Sarsfield, 2nd)
“He has run quite well there but was just beaten by better. I thought we were going to fly home for a minute, but when the gaps came for him Skalleti beat us easily. The ground is the same as last year and we need to ride intelligently, to get home.”
- Alain de Royer Dupré (trainer of Dariyma, 3rd)
“At Deauville in the Darley Prix Jean Romanet (Group 1), the track was soft but very cut up and she struggled a bit. Today her action was better. She has ran well, but she just lacks that change of gear needed. Her jockey rode her perfectly and was satisfied with her, she just doesn’t have that much acceleration in her legs. During the race she looks to be going better than all around her, but she just can’t sprint at the finish. She might run once more before heading off to stud.”