Could it Be Sinileo? Wertheimer Wildcard in Deep in the Jockey Club

[Wandering Eyes]

In a numerically-strong renewal of the G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club featuring a Group 1-winning Classic-placed Ballydoyle representative and some customary trial winners, would it be weird to focus on a once-raced colt with no pattern-race experience? Usually yes, but not in this case when we are dealing with a Wertheimer homebred trained by Andre Fabre and given a major vote of confidence from Maxime Guyon. Step forward Sinileo, a son of Siyouni from the same Galileo cross as two recent winners in Sottsass and St Mark's Basilica who has been supplemented for his ambitious tilt on the back of an easy mile maiden win here 16 days ago.

A half-brother to Vagalame, who dead-heated for fifth in this three years ago, the bay bids to become the first Jockey-Club winner since Pharis in 1939 having only his second start and the draw gods have at least shown him mercy in stall four. “Sinileo won very easily, impressing Maxime Guyon,” the owner-breeders' racing manager Pierre-Yves Bureau said. “He is in a large field and lacks experience, so we are a bit in the unknown. He showed very nice acceleration on his debut and the race seems open, so we are taking our chance. As far as I can remember, supplementing one of ours for the Jockey Club is not a frequent occurrence.”

Clarehaven And Ballydoyle Double-Handed

Also drawn favourably is the likely favourite Camille Pissarro, who goes up in trip having finished off so well in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains. That is a decision made more on jockey opinion than pedigree and it will be interesting to see if he can impose himself on a trio that finished just behind him in at ParisLongchamp in Luther, Ridari and Detain. Camille Pissarro is in one, with his stablemate and possible pacemaker Trinity College handily-placed in three and it will be interesting to see if the latter, who is a useful colt in his own right, goes forward and if so what kind of test he presents to the others.

The Gosdens supply their own duo in the aforementioned Detain and TDN Rising Star Bowmark, with stalls six and eight respectively aiding their cause. Like Camille Pissarro, Detain is a Wootton Bassett but with a stouter pedigree while Kingman's Bowmark will appreciate moving up from a mile being from the family of Serpentine.

Thady Gosden said of the Clarehaven pair, “We had the Prix du Jockey Club in mind even before Detain's race in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and he confirmed there that he will handle this trip. He's not a real stayer like Arrest, as he is by Wootton Bassett and thus has more speed and his preparation has gone well.”

“Bowmark has not yet shown all his talent, but he won like a very good colt at York and William Buick who came to ride him in the morning told us he should handle this distance without any problem. It is very difficult to choose between our two runners–they have very different profiles.”

Downed By The Draw?

In this race, when you go into double figures with the draw you are talking about a task made significantly harder regardless of talent. While New Bay, Intello and Lope De Vega overcame such a compromising post position in recent times, none have done so since 2015. Connections of Luther, who was fourth in the Poulains, will take heart from the fact that although Kieran Shoemark will have to navigate stall 13 here, that trio all came off a prominent showing in the ParisLongchamp Classic. A win for the same connections as the disqualified Pouliches winner Shes Perfect would be well-received and Luther is bred to love this trip at least.

Another certain to enjoy stretching out from a mile is Ridari, the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau winner who was a short neck and a head behind Camille Pissarro and Luther and a length in front of Detain in the Poulains. Mikel Delzangles is happy that the son of the G1 Prix de l'Opera heroine Ridasiyna can make his presence felt as one of the country's leading middle-distance colts. “The Poulains is a good trial for this and although they broke the track record he seems well and I think he has progressed again physically,” he said.

“He produced a very nice finish there and was hampered a few meters from the post by the second which probably cost him fourth place or even third,” he added. “Hewas a bit tense at two and we weren't sure about stepping him up in trip so quickly, but his behaviour is improving and I have no doubt that he will stay 2,100 meters. I also trained his dam and there are many similarities between them. They are horses with a lot of blood and physically they resemble each other a little.”

“You cannot run in this race with a horse you don't feel is mature enough to compete,” he concluded. “It's a race that can leave its mark. You should only run it if you have a good chance with a colt fit enough to handle it, otherwise they need 12 months to recover! You need a 1,600-meter horse who can stay 2,100 meters and a very good 1,600-meter horse can handle 400 meters more without a problem.”

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