By Tom Frary
Bouncing back from a disappointing effort when fifth in the G3 Prix Noailles, Starspangledbanner's Rafale Design returned to ParisLongchamp to stamp his class on Thursday's G3 Prix Hocquart. Sent off at 12-1 for the 11-furlong contest, having backtracked on his smart juvenile form last month, Laurent Dassault's colour-bearer was restrained by Christophe Soumillon following a smart break to track the moderate pace.
Full of running at every stage, the colt that Yann Barberot described as his “best” took control approaching the furlong pole before asserting for a smooth 1 1/4-length verdict over Sottsass's Asmarani.
“I am not surprised to see him win, because he is a good horse and my best three-year-old,” Barberot said of the winner, who had scored by 7 1/2 lengths on the second of his two wins on Deauville's Polytrack in November.
“He is a good-ground specialist and the rain-softened ground was a real concern for me but obviously he is getting stronger,” he added. “He has improved with time and stays well, so the [G1] Grand Prix de Paris will now be the target.”
Pedigree Notes
Rafale Design's dam Fashion Design was a maiden for Coolmore before being sold to BBA Ireland for €43,000 at the 2021 Goffs November Sale. A daughter of Montjeu, she is a full-sister to the Listed scorer and Group 3-placed Only A Pleasure with their dam being Thunder Gulch's GI Matron Stakes heroine Sense Of Style.
Sense Of Style's dam Save Me The Waltz, a half-sister to Last Tycoon, also produced the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Valentine Waltz whose daughters Dyna Waltz and Theodora B. were Stakes winners who made their mark in graded stakes company with the latter daughter of Ghostzapper the Canadian champion turf female courtesy of her success in the GII Dance Smartly Stakes. Connected to Immortal Verse and her G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains-winning colt Henri Matisse, Fashion Design also has a yearling colt by Ten Sovereigns.
Thursday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX HOCQUART-G3, €80,000, ParisLongchamp, 5-22, 3yo, 11fT, 2:22.74, sf.
1–RAFALE DESIGN (IRE), 128, c, 3, by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
1st Dam: Fashion Design (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sense Of Style, by Thunder Gulch
3rd Dam: Save Me the Waltz (Ire), by Kings Lake
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (€48,000 Wlg '22
GOFNOV; €75,000 Ylg '23 GOFORB; €195,000 RNA 2yo '24
ARQMAY). O-Laurent Dassault, Cormac Farrell, Jean-Noel
Bocahut, LTN Racing, Meridian International SARL & Frank
Dhooghe; B-Newstead Breeding Llc; T-Yann Barberot;
J-Christophe Soumillon. €40,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-0,
€77,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Asmarani (Ire), 128, Sottsass (Fr)–Azama (Ire), by Sea The
Stars (Ire). O/B-Aga Khan Studs; T-Francis-Henri Graffard.
€16,000.
3–Zarakchic (Fr), 128, c, 3, Zarak (Fr)–Seemingly (Fr), by
Kendargent (Fr). 1ST BLACK-TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK-TYPE.
(€210,000 Ylg '23 ARQAUG). O-Guy Pariente Holding, Gerard
Augustin-Normand & Jean-Claude Seroul; B-Guy Pariente
Holding; T-Jerome Reynier. €12,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HD, 1HF. Odds: 12.10, 2.70, 20.00.
Also Ran: Maupassant (Fr), Zekret (Fr), Avide (Ire), Lazio (Ger). Also Ran (DNF). Lifetimes (Ire).
Won last year by Calandagan before going onto bigger and better things… 👀
Rafale Design takes a nice step forward from his reappearance to claim Listed honours at ParisLongchamp! 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/mZX1JWD44y
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 22, 2025
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