Persian King Aiming For Classic Double

[Wandering Eyes]

A number of horses are still doubly engaged for both the French and Epsom Derbys after 20 horses stood their ground for the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly on Sunday. Ballydoyle’s Norway (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Cape Of Good Hope (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Anthony Van Dyke (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) still have the option of the French race as do British challengers Surfman (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Line Of Duty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). One horse definitely on target for Chantilly however is the favourite Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) who is bidding for the French Guineas/Derby double following his victory in the G1 The Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp last time out. The colt landed short odds in workmanlike fashion last time on heavy ground and his trainer Andre Fabre is hoping for a more polished display this time. “Everything has been good since his last run and he’s coming along well ahead of Sunday,” Fabre said. “I was hoping he could have won the Poulains by 15 lengths, but in the end he just won. Obviously we all like to dream that we have the new Frankel, but he did it well.” Alain De Royer-Dupre has left in the Aga Khan’s homebred Zarkallani (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). The regally bred son of Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) only broke his maiden when winning at ParisLongchamp last Sunday, while Andrew Balding could be represented by the impressive Newmarket listed winner Raise You (Ire) whose sire Lope De Vega (Ire) won this race in 2010.

The post Persian King Aiming For Classic Double appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article