CYGAMES GRAND PRIX DE PARIS

Less than a length between the first 4 to cross the line in this year’s Grand Prix de Paris tells you everything that you need to know about the race. Unlike the World Cup Semi-Final that was shown on the big screens after racing, this was a close affair and there really were no excuses, with each of the 7 runners getting their chance if they were good enough. A winning time of 2:24.79 was around 12s quicker than the fillies in the Prix de Malleret 35 minutes earlier and Ryan Moore’s decision to send Causeway forwards helped to ensure the race was truly run, at least by French standards. He reached the 800m pole in a time of 1:38.10 and that helped to give us a race where the winner recorded a finishing speed of 105.8% and when looking back over the last 15 years, only Mogul (2020) has run a better time to win this race. Causeway quickly faded away once they got into the home straight, but with the other main players coming to the front, each of them had their shot at Group 1 glory.

I’ll start with Ancient Egypt. He ran another fine race for Charlie Johnston and Amo Racing and was given a superb ride by David Egan. He readily reversed the Ascot form with Causeway and was as much as a length in front with 300m to run. This run, along with the finish at Ascot, has confirmed a couple of things about this horse in my mind. Firstly, whilst he is very good and clearly relishes fast ground, he does lack a little bit of tactical speed. He had the first run on the others in the straight and kept on well to hold 2nd place, but it was slightly laboured in the final furlong. I am sure that he will probably stay slightly further than this and a race like the St Leger could well be on the cards, but his final 3 furlong splits ranked 4th, 5th and 3rd (Source: McLloyd) and it was a lack of speed that saw him come jump slightly short. In fairness, I think similar comments would apply to Francis-Henri Graffard’s Varandir. He may have lost his unbeaten record, but he clearly took another step forward to finish 4th on his first attempt in Group 1 company. Mickael Barzalona chose to use Ancient Egypt as a target and having traveled strongly down the hill, he was ideally placed. When asked to close, he did, but much like Ancient Egypt it took a little bit of time for him to get to top speed and having got on terms, he was picked off by the winner inside the final 50m. When he won the Prix Hocquart in May, the King Edward at Ascot was discussed as a possible target and I wonder if that race may have suited better. A stiffer finish and a faster early pace may be the key to this son of Zarak. Alam was the “eye-catcher” in the Prix du Jockey Club and although he was given another patient ride by Pierre Charles Boudot, he closed all the way up the Paris Longchamp straight and only the winner ran a faster time for the final 600m (34.26s). He has only won 1 of his 6 starts to date and having been ridden with restraint every time, I think there may be some more frustrating results with this horse when he doesn’t quite get there in time. However, he is a very talented colt and his time will come.

I think that I have now given enough time to the beaten horses, all of which ran times that would have been enough to win 13 of the last 15 runnings of this race, now it’s time for the winner Maltese Cross. On paper, he brought the best form into this race and his narrow defeat behind Christmas Day at Epsom remains the only defeat on his 3-year-old CV. He was the proven Group 1 performer in the field and he certainly showed that to battle his way between Varandir and Ancient Egypt to win by a very narrow margin. If I was being hyper-critical, I might suggest that Tom Marquand had him in the wrong place on the inside of the field. It certainly looked that way when Boudot pinned him in with Alam in the straight, but having switched back inside Maltese Cross showed a tremendous attitude to battle through the gap and put his head in front. The sectional times show that he was the fastest closer and a penultimate furlong of 11.21s showed more speed than I had previously given him credit for. With a clear run in the straight, I suspect that he may well have won by further and I have no doubt that he was the best horse in the Grand Prix de Paris. He will now need to step out of 3-year-old company, but both his stamina and his willing attitude should stand him in good stead and at this point, he would look to be the best of the Classic generation in the UK.