184th edition of the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club

Profiles – quotes – going update – and barrier draw

The world’s top race for 3-y-olds.

The 184th edition of the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club takes place on Sunday 2 June at Chantilly racecourse. This historic challenge which awaits the English thoroughbred 3-y-old division takes place in what is officially the world’s top rated race for the classic  generation according to the official 2022 and 2023 ratings compiled by the international racing authorities.

This ‘classic’ race sees the creme de la creme of the European 3-y-old crop go head to head over 2,100 metres. On offer is a total purse of of €1.5m, which makes it the most lucrative race of the French calendar after the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

One of the oldest French sporting challenges awaits
The history of the Prix du Jockey-Club dates back some 200 years. As it was then that a  group of sportsmen, spearheaded by Lord Henry Seymour, the renowned British dandy with a penchant for equestrian sports, were returning to the Château de Chantilly on horseback. And they very soon came to the conclusion that this was ideal terrain for the building of a racecourse.

Once the grandstands had been erected, one of the first initiatives undertaken was to create a top race designed to select the best horses for breeding purposes. So this is how the Prix du Jockey-Club came to fruition! The inaugural edition took place on 24 April 1836 at Chantilly. The race continues to embrace its role as one of France’s oldest sporting events

A stallion making race
The Prix du Jockey-Club has acquired the reputation as ‘a stallion making race’. This was the case when the race used to be run over 2,400 metres, and it remains so – even after its distance was reduced to 2,100 metres in 2005.

Many Jockey-Club winners have gone on to become stallions. Shamardal, Lope de Vega, Le Havre, New Bay, Reliable Man, Intello and The Grey Gatsby are all cases in point, as they are either shone/ or are currently shining in the breeding shed. Ace Impact, the 2023 winner of the Jockey-Club who went on to taste success in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, is treading a similar pathway, having since embarked upon a stallion career in Normandy, namely at the Haras Beaumont, where he has covered his first book of mares.

Very soft ground is forecast on the big occasion
Chantilly has been hit by a rainy spell in the last few days, and particularly so on Wednesday, when the penetrometer scale measured 3.8. The grass is mowed daily to a depth of 11 cms as was the case last year. At present, no watering of course is planned between now and Sunday 2 June due to the rain that fell during the week. A 12-metre section of the track has been roped-off since mid-March. However, the running rail will revert to its usual position on Sunday.

VERY SOFT ground is forecast for the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club.

Updates on the ground are published daily on the France Galop website and diffused via @FranceGalop’s social media platforms.

A regional network that speaks to France’s strength as a racing power
It goes without saying that the training centre at Chantilly (Oise region) remains the largest in France (and indeed in Europe), as the 2,000-hectare site is home to some 2,500 English thoroughbreds – but it’s just one of many training centres which are to be found throughout France. The list of runners in the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club is a perfect illustration of this diversity: as the classic is due to attract runners trained at Chantilly, Deauville (Calvados), Maisons-Laffitte (Yvelines), Calas-Cabriès (Bouches du Rhône), Beaupréau (Maine-et-Loire) and Luché-Pringé (Sarthe).
 

PROFILES

Trainer  – Henri-Alex Pantall : the master of  Beaupréau (Beaupréau – Maine-et-Loire region)
A seven lengths victory in the Prix de Suresnes, a Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club prep on 2 May, has established Fast Tracker as one of the leading fancies in Sunday’s classic. That was one of the reasons which prompted Wathnan Racing, the racing stable of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, to buy the colt after the above win.

Fast Tracker, bred by Guy Heald, is trained at Beaupréau in the Maine-et-Loire region. Overseeing the colt’s preparation is trainer Henri-Alex Pantall, whose British ancestors emigrated to France, alongside other families from across the Channel, in the 1840s, in order to facilitate the development of horse racing which was then in its infancy in France. The horse-racing gene has clearly been handed down through the generations, as, in 1948, Henri-Alex Pantall’s father set up the Beaupréau training centre, with his son taking over the reins in 1982. Henri-Alex Pantall has become an integral part of the French racing landscape, having trained in excess of 5,000 winners (which includes a Prix de Diane win in 2007 with West Wind), but he has yet to taste success in the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club.

Trainers – Carlos et Yann Lerner: a passion handed down from father to son (Maisons-Laffitte – Yvelines region)
The last classic winner trained at Maisons-Laffitte was Anabaa Blue following his success in the 2001 edition of the Jockey-Club. He was trained by… Carlos Lerner. Born in  Argentina and French-based since the late 1980s, the handler will be having his first runner in the Chantilly classic on Sunday since saddling the aforementioned Anabaa Blue!

Look de Vega, unbeaten in two career starts, is the colt in question. Above all, he will  will be saddling the colt with his son Yann, himself a former jockey, with whom he has trained in partnership for over a decade. Having come close to winning the Prix de Diane Longines 2022 with La Parisienne, the combination are hoping to bring further classic glory to the Maisons-Laffitte training centre. Their particular champion, Look de Vega, has the perfect pedigree for the job, as his sire, Lope de Vega, and grand-sire, Shamardal, were both past winners of the Prix du Jockey-Club!

WHAT CONNECTIONS ARE SAYING

Yann Lerner
Co-trainer (with his father Carlos) of LOOK DE VEGA (Maisons-Laffitte – Yvelines)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

« Look de Vega worked last week at Chantilly racecourse so as to familiarise himself with the course. He adapted very well to the course, and he proved inch perfect when it came to negotiating the final uphill section of the course. It was important for us that he got to know the track. He’s in very good condition and we’re going to give it a go. We’re aware of his considerable potential. At this stage [of his career], he has won twice, having landed a maiden and a Class 2 race… My father was lucky enough to train Anabaa Blue (the winner of the Jockey-Club in 2001), and Volvoreta (the Group 1 Prix Vermeille victress and second in the Group 1 Prix de Diane in 2000), and I think he’s in that league. We’ll know more about the Jockey-Club at the final declaration stage, and once the draw has been made. The horse shows a propensity for getting away well from the gates, and he has an excellent mind-set. He’s in a very serene frame of mind. Ronan Thomas will ride him. He has ridden him in both his [two] races, and he was on board from the outset of the colt having his first 2-year-old gallops. So he knows everything there is to know about the colt. Winning a race of this magnitude, and together [as part of a team], would be the icing on the cake.

My father took a great liking to the colt at the sales. He was very surprised to learn that he was a buy back. So we made enquiries with the colt’s breeders, Joëlle Mestrallet and Lucien Urano. They retained a 50 per cent stake in the colt, but we acquired a share and invited several of our owners to do the same. It was Patrick Madar who placed his trust in us. »
 

Henri-Alex Pantall
The trainer of FAST TRACKER (Beaupréau – Maine-et-Loire region)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

« Fast Tracker has improved a lot during the winter. He has now reached maturity. James Doyle (the retained rider of Wathnan Racing – the horse’s new owner) will be riding him on Sunday, but I haven’t forgotten the work done by Tony Piccone (his former jockey), who has been very patient with him. James Doyle arrived at Beaupréau on Monday evening and was able to partner Fast Tracker in his work on Tuesday morning. Everything went very well. The combination were able to work, in company with a lead horse, on the all-weather Fast Tracker displayed a good action in his finishing paces, and James Doyle seemed enthusiastic. Fast Tracker is a straight-forward ride, as he races handily, doesn’t pull and he’ll be able to adapt. He exhibits just one flaw in his racing style: as he takes time to pick up when the pace quickens. Race tactics on Sunday will be draw dependent. In big fields traffic problems often arise, but Fast Tracker is pretty quick when it comes to leaving the gates, and so he has the ability therefore to take up a handy position. Ideally, we’d like to have two or three leaders in the race. I have confidence in my colt and in the way he currently is. You might think he’d prefer heavy ground but I don’t think that’s what he really likes. He won’t mind if the ground dries out even if it that isn’t expected to be the case. »
 

Jean-Bernard Roth
A key lynchpin of the Jean-Claude Rouget team: the trainer of WAHDAN, GRECIAN STORM and ARROW EAGLE (Deauville – Calvados)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

« Arrow Eagle is nothing like his brother Ace Impact [editor’s note: the winner of last year’s Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club] either physically or mentally. Ace Impact was a very active horse whereas Arrow Eagle is very ‘chilled’. It has taken time for the penny to drop, having shown very little in the morning compared to the afternoon. As things stand, we can discern that he’s on the upgrade, but, above all, he has plenty of scope for improvement. It’s also the reason why we’ve decided to run him in the Jockey-Club on Sunday.
We will tailor the race programmes according to how the colts develop. The Prix de Guiche came at just the right time for Grecian Storm. He’s a cute colt and a pocket warrior to boot. He has extraordinary willpower and is always in form. He has shown his adaptibility to Chantilly and, above all, his ability to quicken. He’s also indifferent to the state of the ground. On the upgrade, he will strip very fit when he goes to post on Sunday. He’s the kind of colt who could could provide his connections with a nice surprise.
We’ve always believed in Wahdan. Still immature, he has real potential which he showed us in his last piece of work. Working in company with Arrow Eagle, he reassured us. He failed to act on the ground which had cut up after some last-minute rainfall. »

Aidan O’Brien
The trainer of DIEGO VELAZQUEZ (Ireland)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

« We were very pleased with Diego Velazquez’s reappearance effort in the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains. He put in a good performance and this has always been the plan: namely the Poule d’Essai [d’Essai des Poulains] on a right-hand course, with a view to heading to Chantilly for the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club where they also race right-handed. Since Paris-Longchamp, everything has gone well. We always thought Chantilly would suit him. The 2,100-metre trip should suit as as he has enough stamina, and the colt should even be capable of going a little longer in the future. He also has the necessary cruising speed and is a straight forward ride. On the other hand, a soft surface would not necessarily spell good news. Blessed with a good physique, he moves beautifully in his paces – which is characterised by a nice, flowing action, complete with a fairly raking stride. So soft ground would therefore be far far from ideal. In our opinion, the ground rated good in the Poule d’Essai, even tending towards fast, and this despite the deluge. The rain didn’t have time to really to get  into the ground at the time of the race. He exhibited a very good temperament that day, as the colts went to the paddock, before returning to the stables because of the storm. He had to be unsaddled and resaddled, there was a lot of rain, and that didn’t bother him. I think the France Galop officials handled the situation well. »

Christopher Head
The trainer of RAMADAN (Chantilly – Oise region

« Ramadan is a very interesting colt who has done well since the start of the season on very heavy ground. Like a lot of trainers, I was surprised by the outcomes of the first classics. However, that hasn’t changed the plan as regards having a tilt at the Jockey-Club with Ramadan. He’s a good servant to the yard and a horse who invariably puts his best foot forward. Furthermore, his jockey, Aurélien Lemaitre, knows him very well. In my opinion, this combination could be worth following for the rest of the season. I’m really pleased with the positive results obtained as a result of the partnership forged with Nurlan Bizakov, who is the owner-breeder of Ramadan. »

Édouard de Rothschild
The owner of ALCANTOR (trained at Chantilly – Oise region)

« Alcantor numbers two “poor” performances on his CV: namely over the straight course at Chantilly as a juvenile, and in the Craven Stakes (Britain) which was similarly run on the straight course [at Newmarket]. He was perhaps too fresh when racing at Newmarket? Following the latter race, various aspects of his preparation were changed. Fitting him with a hood on the day of the race was my idea, but it was only one element in the equation… The colt has came out of the ‘Poule ‘[d’Essai des Poulains] in very good order. He will again be ridden by Mickaël Barzalona. A repeat of the New Bay scenario [editor’s note: the horse who ran second in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains despite his 16 draw followed by success in the Jockey-Club] would suit me perfectly! »
 

Mathieu Brasme
The trainer of DOLLAR INDEX (Luché-Pringé – Sarthe region)

« The rain which has fallen at Chantilly may be the greater detriment of some of our rivals,
 but that shouldn’t be the case for Dollar Index – given that he is rather versatile and that all courses come alike to him. So the more rain – the better! However, we have to be realistic as we’ve heading into the race as ‘minor players’, but certain elements instil us with confidence. A colt with « very few miles on the clock », he can only get better, having never been involved in any tough battles. We have let ourselves be tempted, and if the task should prove beyond him, he’ll step down in class. The colt’s profile appeals to us. The Prix du Jockey-Club only comes aiong once in a horse’s lifetime (the race is restricted to 3-year-olds)!  Furthermore, the 2024 edition of the race seems fairly open. There may be room at the finish for some of the lower rated colts. Some of the outcomes in the classic trials have gone as expected, but others haven’t, and so why not give it a shot? »
 

Pierre-Yves Bureau
The racing manager of Écurie Wertheimer & Frère: the owners of ATLAST and SOSIE (both trained at Chantilly – Oise region)

« Sosie made a very good reappearance at ParisLongchamp. The timing of this race meant that we couldn’t really give him another race before the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club. He’s a colt on the upgrade. Atlast is very well according to his trainer Christophe Ferland. We haven’t really found an explanation for his poor performance in the Prix de Guiche (Gr3)
(he finished fifth in the Prix du Jockey-Club prep). If the track remains soft, he shouldn’t be inconvenienced by this. Atlast and Sosie both began their careers in the same race, so looking back it’s quite an amusing fact! They have since gone their separate ways but both have affirmed their quality nonetheless. That’s the most important thing. »

Clive Cox
The trainer of GHOSTWRITER (trained in Britain)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

« Ghostwriter was a very powerfully built 2-y-old last season, and he did very well during  the winter. The 2,000 Guineas was his first big target of the year. He ran very well to finish fourth. The form of the classic has been handsomely franked since. I’m looking forward to seeing him run over a longer trip. He was entered in the Epsom Derby but we preferred to head to Chantilly. It’s one thing to step up from 1,600m to 2,100m, and quite another to do likewise from 1,600m to the 2,400m of Epsom. Despite doing well at Newmarket as a 2-year-old [by winning] the Royal Lodge Stakes, this track has its own idiosyncracies. He stumbled on leaving the gates in the Guineas and, heading downhill towards the dip, he became unbalanced and so he didn’t handle the dip very well. However, at Epsom, they also race downhill ! We’ve discussed this at length with his owner, Jeff Smith, and his jockey Richard Kingscote, and we think that Chantilly will suit him. We’re delighted to have chosen France as our option. He has made good progress since the Guineas and, despite the vagaries of the weather, we have been able to continue training in clement conditions by working the horses on grass.

In all honesty, softer ground at Chantilly on Sunday isn’t going to keep me awake at night! If the weather forecast remains the same, the track could conceiveably dry out a bit on Saturday. The ground will certainly be soft, and it’s an unknown quantity, but it doesn’t worry me more than that. It’s true that there could be two questions which need answering: the trip and the ground. However, as he’s relaxed and athletic, I think he’ll be fine. »
 

David Menuisier
The trainer of SUNWAY (trained in Britain)

« Sunway proved last year that he was a very good horse. And he’s proved that this year too. You have to keep things in perspective. I don’t particularly like making excuses, but in the Prix Greffulhe, he’s not beaten by much. We were a bit disappointed because we’d come to win. However, the horse that I know is far superior to what he showed on that occasion. He’s a machine. One day, he’ll show the same class in the afternoon as he does in the morning. Sunway has a big race in him. So, given a bit of luck, that will be on Sunday! In my opinion, Sunway is a bit like a gifted child. Sometimes it’s the brightest kids which flunk their exams. His jockey, Oisin Murphy, is in agreement. In his two outings this year, he was ridden offensively. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do. Maybe he’ll find it more rewarding to be held up with a view to coming with a run, rather than racing from the front. »

OFFICIAL PARTNER : Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club

Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) was established in the early 1960s, and was officially launched in 1975. Its mandate is to represent, promote and advance equine and equestrian initiatives locally and internationally. With its focus on equestrian sports and equine welfare, QREC is dedicated to promoting Qatar as a global horse racing hub, and as leader in the domain of the Purebred Arabian breed.

QREC works with local bodies dedicated to excellence in the planning, regulation and development of the horse racing industry in Qatar to promote global best practice. QREC has sponsored the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe since 2008,  and adopted a similar role relative the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club since 2021, which also revels in its role as one of the very top races designed to enhance the ‘selection ‘ process.

Phoo accreditation in this press release: Scoop Dyga