Prix Cleopatre - Gilded Prize

HENRI MATISSE COOLMORE PRIX CLEOPATRE

Saint-Cloud - 17th April 2026 - “Bon 3,2”

3YO (F) G3 - 2,100m - €36,600

2:19.37 (Réduction KM 1:06.36)

I’ll admit to being slightly sceptical of GILDED PRIZE when she won on debut at Chantilly in November, but those doubts have long since subsided and after watching her demolish the field in the Prix Cleopatre on Friday afternoon, I’d be confident enough to say that she is the best 3-year-old filly in France. That’s a bold statement perhaps, but I have watched plenty of classic trials in the last 14 days and have seen several races where it seemed very hard to get a handle on the form. That is not the case with this race. Gilded Prize dominated this race from the moment that the stalls opened and having been keen to get his mount into a prominent position, Colin Keane must have been delighted to find himself in front at the end of the opening quarter of a mile. From there, he was able to dictate aboard Gilded Prize and when they turned for home, he was able to ask her to lengthen. She responded instantly, coming home with furlong splits of 11.0 and 11.63s to win by over 3 lengths. The McLloyd data shows that she reached a race best 65.5 km/h in the penultimate furlong and whilst it was a muddling early pace that developed into a sprint (Gilded Prize recorded a finishing speed of 115%), she was simply in a different league to her 5 rivals and would have won regardless.

The running order barely changed over the opening mile and the 2nd favourite (Arkansas) was given a lot to do by Antonio Orani, but Gilded Prize was simply nudged out by Colin Keane to my eye and without needing to draw the persuader, she has quickened clear with ease. The overall time was typical of this race, ranking 7th of the last 10 renewals at 2:19.37, but given the relative "small field" nature of this trial, it can often turn into a sprint finish, so I won’t hold too much credence to that statistic. Instead, we should focus on an exceptionally talented filly, who has made life very easy for Colin Keane on both starts this season and who will head to the Prix de Diane with the hopes of the home trained team on her shoulders. She holds an entry in the Prix Saint-Alary next month if her connections were so inclined, although I wouldn’t be overly concerned if she were to head straight to the Prix de Diane given how professional she has looked in her 2 starts this season.

It can be very hard to work out whether there is any value in an Antepost price in France. Not that many firms will price up the French Classics in advance and even those that do tend to have every 3-year-old in any major yard priced up just in case. The make up of the field can be very hard to workout and there will almost certainly be strong representation from Ballydoyle and Newmarket to factor in. For that reason, I can’t really offer a strong opinion on her overall chance of winning the Prix de Diane in June. However, what I can say is that I do not believe there is a filly in France with a better chance and if the last year has taught us anything, it should be that Francis-Henri Graffard can be trusted to get her there in peak form.