Saturday, June 19th – Auteuil. If there was something farcical about the Grande Course, the 4yo version, the €270,000 Prix Alain du Breil-Grande Course de Haies d’Été des 4ans (French Triumph, Gr1-3,900m), ended in a very hot contest between the two favourites, Guillaume Macaire’s Bel La Vie (Fr-Lavirco) and Guy Cherel’s Salder Roque (Fr-Muhtathir), owned by American owner Magalen Bryant, a great Francophile. The former was unbeaten in three races in 2010 but had to take the initiative again here and was beaten a whisker by Salder Roque, who’d won the only prep race avoided by his rival. “Both horses are very good and it was very close,” said Cherel. “It is a great victory for Mrs Bryant,” said the owner’s agent David Powell. “She was a close friend to Mrs du Breil and this is her 600th win in France since she declared her colours here, in 1983.” Prix Cambaceres Hurdle winner Prince Oui Oui (Fr-Poliglote) finished well in third and his trainer Philippe Peltier noted : “He’s an Autumn horse really and I look forward to next season. The ground was uneven today and he made lots of mistakes, even on the flat. He can be better than that.”

Salder Roque was bred in Calvados by Mrs Robert Mongin out of La Oratava (Mendez), a winner over the flat in the South-East, and a Listed-placed bred by Eric Puerari. He’s his best foal so far even though the 23yo mare gave fifteen foals and no less than seven winners, mostly over obstacles.

Having unseated his rider at the start of the French Gold Cup three weeks earlier, Remember Rose (Ire-Insatiable) was favourite for a quick revenge in the €240,000 Prix des Drags Chase (Gr2-4,400m). Ridden by Christophe Pieux, Remember Rose was looking pretty good when seizing the lead in the backstretch. In the run-in however, 10yo Alarm Call (Fr-Solar One) sprinted to outstay the favourite and score by five lengths. “Remember Rose is a tough nut to crack but Alarm Call was in great form and we opted for this instead of giving up lots of weight in a Listed Steeplechase,” said the breeder-owner Naji Pahraon’s agent Paul Nataf to jourdegalop.com. Gallorini, who trains Remember Rose, said his horse came back with cuts on his hind legs and that he had been unable to sustain his effort in the end. All in all, Remember Rose missed his Spring.

In the Autumn, he could have to deal with the new chasing wonder Mail de Bievre. Maybe will he also have to deal with Soumillon as the flat jockey said that he’d like to replicate his Grande Course de Haies win over the bigger obstacles.

Cheltenham beware !

Saturday, June 19th - Auteuil. The €370,000 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil (Gr1-5,100m) is one to remember even though the favourites flopped and the French turfistes booed almost the entire field on his way back to the paddock. It is all an hilarious Christophe Soumillon’s fault. Aboard Mandali (Fr-Sinndar), the Belgian adventurer took the lead, went far ahead of the pack and beat the favourite Questarabad (Fr-AQPS, Astarabad) by “a distance” - official.

The versatile jockey, who regularly drives trotters at Vincennes racetrack, had ridden his first jumper at Auteuil five days before to prepare his tilt at the French Champion Hurdle - which in fact is rather a Stayers’Hurdle with its 3 mile, 1 ½ furlong trip - and finished third.

Trained by Jean-Paul Gallorini for Ecurie Zingaro, co-owned by equestrian artist Bartabas and cinema producer Marin Karmitz, the Princess Zahra Aga Khan-bred Mandali was led away from the field early on and jumped a couple of hurdles awkwardly but Soumillon once again showed great horsemanship as he let his mount go on his own… and take about a hundred yards to the remainder of the field, including the big favourite Questarabad. The latter needs to relax in the rear and his rider Regis Schmidlin wasn’t keen to rally the pack. The fact that almost every other runner was watching exclusively Questarabad vastly explains the jockeys’ poor tactics – That is exactly what they say to puzzled stewards afterwards.

“It was amazing,” declared Soumillon on his way back to the weighing room. "Unbelievable… I was supposed to take care of Questarabad but when I checked the others, I was already gone. I am not used to jump races and feared that I had done too much too early. Hearing the crowd booing, I thought that I had done something wrong, or that the start was void. Eventually, I simply rode according to the horse’s willing.”

It was such an ironic result. Three weeks earlier, Gallorini had been extremely upset after his Grand Steeple favourite Remember Rose unseated Christophe Pieux at the start. The French starter and the stewards let go and the result stood despite the trainer’s and his supporters’ fury.

Twenty days later, the same bunch was meeting the French stewards again but on the winners’ podium with a broad and irrepressible smile on their face.

Mandali, a brother to Opera winner Mandesha (Desert Style) sold €62,000 to Jean-Paul Gallorini at the 2008 Arqana November Sale (click here for catalogue page).

Tuesday 15th June 2010, Auteuil. (www.jourdegalop.com) On his first ride over jumps, Christophe Soumillon finished an honourable third in the €90,000 Prix Daniel Lescalle Hurdle (4yos-3,600m) at Auteuil, with Rag Tiger (Pentire), for Jean-Paul Gallorini. “He rode him perfectly”, announced the trainer. The top flat jockey was very impressed and delighted after the race. “I had a good run,” confided Christophe Soumillon, “I really enjoyed myself. Auteuil is very impressive! I must thank Monsieur Gallorini who started all of this by asking me to ride Mandali in the Grande Course de Haies (Gr1). The horse is very well and will be ready on Saturday. I am also in form and can’t wait to come back here.” After his ride, Christophe Soumillon headed on to Vincennes, where he was driving in a trotting race that evening.

Xavier de Chevigny – Surprise win for Quaniel

The €60,000 Prix Xavier de Chevigny Chase (AQPS 5yos+ - 4,400m) was won by Thierry Doumen’s Quaniel (SF-Thames). She finished 5 lengths ahead of Guy Cherel’s charge Renard (Discover d'Auteuil) who took second place. Two lengths behind in third was Riri Mag (SF-Vidéo Rock).

At 6 years of age, this was Quaniel’s first ever win from 19 runs in total. From her five starts in 2010, on the last four she has fallen once and been pulled up three times making this win quite unexpected.

Quaniel’s dam, Janville II (SF-Dear Doctor), was unsuccessful on her only two starts and has produced only one other offspring, Ohe Lancelot (Baby Turk) who has won two cross country races.

Boulonnais – Lucky to Be makes winning start

Lucky to Be (Poliglote) made a winning debut over fences in the €50,000 Prix du Boulonnais Chase (4yo-3,500m). Not quite the same class as the top hurdlers, he did not miss out on this chance to prove himself in his new discipline following in the footsteps of his older siblings Positive Thinking (Nikos) and Master Minded (Nikos). However his trainer Guillaume Macaire was not totally convinced, “Everything almost went exactly to plan today except that he eased up before the double-fence and made a mistake on landing. He recovered because he has the engine but you have to keep on top of him all the time. He will be better over longer distances and on softer ground.” After being held up throughout the race, Lucky to Be made up ground on the last bend to take the lead between the last two fences, once on the flat he was home clear and beat Shangani (Giant’s Causeway) by 3 lengths with Soleiade (Laveron) a further 4 lengths behind in third place.

Friday 11th June 2010, Auteuil. (www.jourdegalop.com)

“She has a lot of class!” Guy Cherel didn’t need many words in order to describe Sortie de Secours (AQ-Trempolino) after her success in the €85,000 Prix Christian de Trédern (L- 4&5yos-3,600m). The representative of Haras de Saint Voir was clearly head and shoulders above the other 11 mares in the race. “She made a small mistake at the last hurdle and took some time to get things back on track afterwards”, explained her trainer. “She is not a very big mare but she gives her all.” In six starts, Sortie de Secours has won three times, finished second twice and unseated her jockey on her other start.

Sat on the heels of the leaders, Sortie de Secours accelerated on the far side before taking the lead coming off the last bend and was never challenged thereafter despite the strong finish of N’Oublie Jamais (Loup Solitaire). These two mares finished 8 lengths ahead of their nearest rival, . On the 30th of April, Sortie de Secours and N’Oublie Jamais met for the first time in the Prix d’Arles. On that occasion Sortie de Secours beat Jean-Paul Gallorini’s charge by six lengths. However on Friday the distance between the two was reduced to only one and a half lengths.

Bred by her owners, the Haras de Saint Voir, Sortie de Secours is the sixth of seven of her unraced dam, Briffault (Olmeto), offspring to have appeared on a racecourse. Five of these have already won, including Hard Rock (Video Rock), who won the Prix Edmond Barrachin (Gr3) when trained by Guy Cherel.

Perray – Success for Quatre Bleue

Francois-Marie Cottin’s charge Quatre Bleue (SF-Cyborg) was successful in the €50,000 Prix du Perray Chase (5yo+ Mares-3,700m) in the hands of Phillip Carberry. Mine Lointaine (Antarctique) was a close second a neck behind the winner with Chausey (Cadoudal) a further three lengths behind in third place.

This was the winner’s first run back since January of this year when she was up at Cagnes-sur-Mer, as was also the case on her last run of 2009. It was the third success of her career and the first over fences as all her other wins have been over hurdles.