Won by some of the turf's finest down the years, with the likes of Allez France, Miesque, Indian Skimmer, Manduro (Ger) and Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) on its cherished list, the G1 Prix d'Ispahan is at Chantilly on Tuesday and should make for a fascinating spectacle, with five Group 1 winners lining up in a particularly strong renewal of the race customarily staged at the Longchamp track currently under renovation. Heading them is France's leading older horse New Bay (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Khalid Abdullah's G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero who fared best of the domestic 3-year-olds when third in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October. Previously, the homebred had beaten Dariyan (Fr) (Shamardal) in Deauville's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano over 10 furlongs in August and had the G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) back in fourth in Longchamp's G2 Prix Niel over the Arc mile-and-a-half trip in September. With the rain plentiful in France at present, New Bay's trainer Andre Fabre is not expecting fireworks on this comeback. “The horse is fine, but obviously he will need the race and the biggest concern is the torrential rain we have had here for the last two days,” he said. “It is not ideal to have very soft ground for his first run in a long time, but we need to run and otherwise I am happy. If all goes well, the plan is to go to [Royal] Ascot.”
Fabre also saddles Haras de Saint Pair's Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), who is one of the principals without a top-level success, but that looked like a formality after his impressive win in the G2 Prix du Muguet over a mile at Saint-Cloud at the start of the month. “He has had three runs already this year and won very well last time,” Fabre said of the 5-year-old. “I am not convinced he will enjoy the soft ground, but he is a big, strong 5-year-old, so hopefully he will handle it.”
His Highness The Aga Khan's Dariyan comes into this rematch with New Bay on the back of a defeat of Silverwave (Fr) (Silver Frost {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Ganay at Saint-Cloud May 1, and may be able to use that race-fitness to reverse form with the Juddmonte colt, while there is a serious Japanese presence in the form of the G1 Hong Kong Cup hero A Shin Hikari (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Eishindo Co Ltd's powerful galloper could be the pace factor in this potentially tactical affair if his front-running performance in that 10-furlong Sha Tin feature is a guide, and a strong tempo is essential for the GI Woodbine Mile winner Mondialiste (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Adding more intrigue is Paul and Clare Rooney's progressive My Dream Boat (Ire) (Lord Shanakill), who signed off his 2015 campaign with a win in the G3 Prix Perth over a mile at Saint-Cloud in November before returning to capture the 10-furlong G3 Gordon Richards S. at Sandown last time Apr. 22. “He's in very good order and I could have not been more impressed by the way he won the Gordon Richards S. at Sandown,” trainer Clive Cox commented. “It is very wet in France, which will be in his favour. Obviously this is a big step forward into a Group 1 and on ratings he has got to find a bit, but conditions are very much in his favour. He has travelled over well and has shown a good level of form on this track, as it is where he won his Listed [Prix du Ranelagh] race last autumn. He is a very progressive horse who is continuing on a steep upward curve and I'm very pleased he is stepping up to Group 1 company.”
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