By Tom Frary
Race two on Arc day saw a quickfire double for Ballydoyle and Christophe Soumillon, with Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett) making all to dominate the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” for the Juvenile Turf. Up to this seven-furlong trip for the first time to cause a minor upset in Doncaster's G2 Champagne Stakes last month, the 4-1 shot was again placed straight on the front and despite veering off a true line in the run to the line was always in control.
Aidan O'Brien, who was winning this for the 10th time, has the Breeders' Cup in mind for the 2 1/2-length winner who was followed home by the crack French colts Nighttime (Wootton Bassett) and Rayif (Sea The Moon). “He won very well the last day and is a lovely straightforward horse who handles this ground well,” he said. “He took a little bit time to come, but as every month went by he's got stronger and this was only his second time at seven.”
“He still very green and Christophe was worried about that–he thought he might be here too and he was right,” he added. “Wootton Bassett was an incredible stallion and we are so lucky to have three generations of them still to come. Like [last year's Lagardere winner] Camille [Pissarro], he's a big powerful horse and so I think the Breeder's Cup is very possible as he's strong, mature and experienced.”
Puerto Rico, who was still a maiden entering the Champagne, had been campaigned over six furlongs for his first five starts and been second in the Railway and Richmond and fourth in the Phoenix but it was only when he was moved up in trip that he has found his metier. Producing an honest pace in front and maintaining it throughout, he was the only colt able to register sub-12-second splits for the last five of the seven furlongs with a race-best 11.18 penultimate sectional thrown in to seal the result.
After Wootton Bassett won this in 2010, few would have predicted he would become such a global presence during his sadly-shortened second career and this was his second consecutive winner of a contest he might have made his own had he not been lost to the industry. O'Brien, who started his spree in this with Second Empire in 1997 under its former guise as the Grand Criterium over a mile, was keen to draw comparisons between father and son.
“Wootton Bassett himself had tremendous speed and this colt has just as much of it–he reminds me a lot of him,” he said. “Camille Pissarro was also a big, powerful, dark horse just like Wootton Bassett and this one is the same. I probably ran him over trips that were a bit too short earlier on, because he was showing so much speed.”
“Christophe said he's a very fast horse, a real miler and won't go beyond that trip, but Camille Pissarro won the French Derby and maybe this colt can do the same even if we're not sure yet he'll stay that far,” he concluded. “We thought Camille Pissarro wouldn't, because he too was very fast but he did.”
Christopher Head said of the G3 Prix la Rochette scorer Nighttime, who provided the late sire with a one-two, “He's a horse who will clearly be even better over a longer trip next year, so everything we saw from him today was really an unexpected bonus. We were beaten by a very good horse trained by Aidan and I'm probably starting to get used to it! But we'll come back stronger next year with both him and Green Spirit. We'll give them a quiet winter and plan the Poule, the Jockey Club and the Diane for the filly.”
“He's going to strengthen up and mature a lot more, which is why we pushed him right to the top of his two-year-old programme,” he added. “He's shown good speed, so we'll now be able to get closer to his true distance and everything should go smoothly. It's incredible–the legacy that Wootton Bassett is leaving behind will only continue to shine, as there are still so many of his progeny to come. It's always a real pleasure to train them–they're incredibly straightforward horses.”
The G3 Prix Francois Boutin-winning 11-10 favourite Rayif held every chance, but failed to live with the winner and ended up beaten a total of 3 3/4 lengths in third. Nemone Routh was far from disappointed with the talented chestnut, who had excelled on much quicker ground at Deauville last time. “He's still immature, it was only his third start and he's already placed in a Group 1, so we can only be delighted with that,” she said.
“In the mornings he's quite lazy and you really have to ask him to work,” she added. “The tempo suited him today, but they quickened hard in the straight and it's never easy to come from behind in those conditions. His turn of foot wasn't quite as sharp as before, but he didn't weaken. He's learning with every run, and I imagine we won't see him again this year.”
Pedigree Notes
Puerto Rico, who becomes Wootton Bassett's 17th Group 1 winner, is the first foal out of the G2 Kilboy Estate Stakes runner-up April Showers (Galileo) who is herself a full-sister to three Stakes winners. They are the four-times Group 1-winning Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine, who in turn produced multiple top-level winners in War Front's US Navy Flag and Roly Poly, another Prix Marcel Boussac heroine in Ballydoyle (Galileo) and the Listed scorer and dual Group-placed Twirl who is the second dam of Nyquist's Del Mar Debutante, Starlet and Santa Anita Oaks winner Tenma.
The third dam is Mr. P's Princess (Mr. Prospector), who provided Aidan O'Brien with one of his first big horses at Ballydoyle in Nureyev's Phoenix and Prix Morny-winning champion juvenile Fasliyev. Mr. P's Princess, who is kin to the sires Desert Wine and Menifee, is also the third dam of the New York Stakes heroine Marketsegmentation (American Pharoah). April Showers also has a yearling filly by No Nay Never and a foal full-brother to Puerto Rico to come.
PUERTO RICO LEADS THEM ALL THE WAY IN THE GROUP ONE QATAR PRIX JEAN-LUC LAGARDERE! 🏆🇫🇷#QPAT pic.twitter.com/9AsRdNXbL1
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 5, 2025
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX JEAN-LUC LAGARDERE-G1, €400,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-5, 2yo, c/f, 7fT, 1:21.53, vsf.
1–PUERTO RICO (IRE), 126, c, 2, by Wootton Bassett (GB)
1st Dam: April Showers (Ire) (GSP-Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Butterfly Cove, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Mr. P's Princess, by Mr. Prospector
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-April Showers Syndicate; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Christophe Soumillon. €228,560. Lifetime Record: GSW-Eng & GSP-Ire, 7-2-3-0, €418,125. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Nighttime (Fr), c, 2, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Daytime (GB), by Frankel (GB). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere; T-Christopher Head. €91,440.
3–Rayif (Ire), 126, c, 2, Sea The Moon (Ger)–Rayisa (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Aga Khan Studs; T-Francis-Henri Graffard. €45,720.
Margins: 2HF, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 3.90, 5.30, 1.10.
Also Ran: Campacite (Fr), Imperial Me Cen (Ire), A Bit Of Spirit (Ire), Cielo Di Roma (Fr), Time To Turn (GB), Vardif (Fr).
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