Sunday 22nd Auteuil The withdrawal of Princesse d’Anjou (due to ground) changed the face of the Prix Léon Olry-Roederer (Gr2 - 4300m) which was surprisingly won by Royal Penny (Cyborg). The representative of Bernard Barbier followed the leader Gaelic Ocean (Urban Ocean) throughout the race before dominating easily on the flat. Tell No One (Poliglote) finished a decent second after always running in the wake of the winner. Grande Haya (Solid Illusion) finished well, coming from a long way behind, to deprive Gaelic Ocean of third place.

Jockey of the winner, Benoit Delo, was the most surprised by this result: “I wasn’t too tough on him because I didn’t expect him to win,” he said to Equidia. “He seemed to handle the ground and I rode my own race without worrying about the other runners.” Bernard Barbier was equally surprised, “I was hoping for 4th or 5th place. I gave my horses too long a break this summer and they have been slow to come back to form. This horse seemed well to me and because I couldn’t find anything else for him to run in, I entered him in this race.”

Guy Cherel was reassured by the performance of Tell No One: “He disappointed me the last time (editor’s note: 5th in the Grand Prix d’Automne) but I think we held him up too much. I told his jockey to ride him closer to the front today, but the ground was very soft. We won’t run him again this year, he has finished his year.”

Jockey of Grande Haya, Anthony Lecordier declared that his mount had run too soon after his run in the Grand Prix d’Automne.

Princesse d’Anjou was declared non runner due to ground conditions. Francois-Marie Cottin hopes to find more favourable circumstances in the Prix Georges Courtois (next Sunday) as the chase track is less used than that for the hurdles.

Kerym - Balanda cont'd

Prix Kerym (3yo Fillies-3600m). After constantly tracking the leader Perceverense (Arvico), Si St Eloi couldn’t fight off the finish of Mood, who was already successful on her debut at Auteuil. Perceverense put up a good performance as she fought back to capture second place in the end in front of Si St Eloi, a long way ahead of the rest of the field.
Already placed first and second in the Prix du Pre Catelan on October 31st, the two Balanda charge’s Mood (Laveron) and Si St Loi(Limnos) once again occupied the top places over hurdles in the

Mood is a half sister of Aristophane (Dream Well) and Worldbest (Muhtathir), who were like her bred by Pierre Goral. Si St Eloi was bought back for €130,000 at the Autumn sales after her 2nd place in the Pre Catalan. Her trainer was pleased with her run today saying that she still needs “to strengthen up physically”.

Daniel Merle - Turbasa back to form

Third in the Weather Permitting behind Alle Voran and Ole Companero, the filly Turbasa (Turgeon) could not follow up this performance but managed to redeem herself over fences in the Prix Daniel Merle (3yo Fillies-3500m). The representative of Xavier Cheyrou, a public trainer based in Pompadour, came here off a fall at the water in the Congress. Well placed behind the leader Sunday Madrik (Esprit du Nord), she easily overtook Majaka (Kapgarde) on the flat. Piemontesina (Bernebeau), finished in third in front of Formerly (Poliglote) who made a mistake at the bullfinch but only conceded defeat between the last two hurdles.

“I would like to dedicate this win, my second at Auteuil, to Sophie Deschamps, who was seriously injured after having broken in this filly at Pompadour,” declared Xavier Cheyrou. “Turbasa ran well first time out over fences here and then finished 4th behind the Macaire representative Ole Companero. She will have a break now and we will take her back as a 4 year old.”

Lordolivia (Lord of Men) joined the fight at the end when she well at the double, for her 2nd start over fences.