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Monday, April 26th – Auteuil. A sunny weekday for two of the main prep races towards the Spring Auteuil classics were on the card. The best 4yo chasers first and then the penultimate prep race towards the French Champion Hurdle. Marcel Rolland saddled both winners but it was not exactly business as usual for the Chantilly handler.
Beaten last time out because of an infection, Questarabad (Fr-Astarabad) came back in front in the €175,000 Prix Leon Rambaud Hurdle (Gr2-3,900m). The Marcel Rolland-trained AQPS 6yo came to the fore in the backstretch as Irish raider Jumbo Rio (Ire-Captain Rio) and usual front runner Melcastle (Fr-Medaaly) were leading a tight pack towards the last turn. Edward O’Grady’s 5yo was looking pretty good then as Philip Carberry let him go on his own while Questarabad seemed to struggle a bit between horses such as Vitray (Fr-Morespeed), the Hypothese Hurdle winner, and Grande Haya (Fr-Solid Illusion), making some progress outside.
Jumping the second last, Jumbo Rio was still well ahead of the field and it took the very best Questarabad to catch him in the run-in to score by three lengths while Jumbo Rio held on Grande Haya, beaten ¾ of a length for second place.
“It is reassuring,” admitted Marcel Rolland. “Regis Schmidlin rightfully made his move in the backstretch as the leaders were not going very fast. It could have ended up as a sprint. He had to come between horses but Questarabad did not pull hard then and I was pleased to see him finish like that after the other day’s hiccup. We’ll see how he comes back before deciding whether we go for the La Barka Hurdle (on Grand Steeple day) or not.”
As for Edward O’Grady, he does not plan a return at Auteuil for Jumbo Rio before a first tilt at the Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil, the French Champion, which is rather an equivalent of the World Hurdle with its 5,200m trip. “He’s second for the fourth time here but I couldn’t be more pleased by him today,” he said. “I am also pleased to see that he has progressed well from the novice ranks to the open. I hanve noticed that he has had his two worse runs at Cheltenham and I gathered that he did not like undulating tracks. I skipped Punchestown because of that too. We shall come back here for the big one in June but we had an 8 Lbs allowance here and won’t get the same in the Grande Course (4Lbs allowance then).”
Jean Stern – Saint du Chenet holds his promise - just
Since it’s become the only prep race en route towards the Prix Ferdinand Dufaure, the 4yo Gold Cup ran on Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris day, in 1999, the €220,000 Prix Jean Stern 4yo Chase (Gr2-4,100m) was won by the eventual champion on D-Day only twice.
Saint du Chenet (Fr-Poliglote) was heavily backed to succeed here since he smashed the opposition on April 3rd in the €150,000 Prix Fleuret Chase (Gr3-4,100m).
Yet the long pastern bay has had to fight hard to overcome the Macaire-trained duet made of the front running Ole Companero (Ger-Sholokhov) and Allen Voran (Ger-Sholokhov).
Led by Ole Companero and Keeping Gold (Fr-Goldneyev), respectively 3rd and 2nd in the Fleuret Chase, the race was fast enough on a ground probably firmer than expected after a sunny weekend. Saint du Chenet was rather late in the back stretch, jumping the bigger ones, but Regis Schmidlin pushed the Marcel Rolland-trained gelding forward in the last turn and he finally prevailed in the run-in, beating Ole Companero by almost a length with Allen Voran closing in well in third one length behind.
“The ground was deeper last time out and they went a good pace today,” noted Marcel Rolland. “He was slightly outpaced and Regis was right to push him. Had he let him go his way, he’d have finished well… in 3rd !”
The 3rd place is not exactly a curse though as two Ferdinand Dufaure chase winners had filled the same spot in the Jean Stern Chase lately, including the latest winner Rubi Ball.
Macaire was happy enough with his charges, as he declared to leblogdeparisturf.com : “We beat Saint du Chenet in the Congress Chase (Gr2) last November but Marcel Rolland’s horse is another horse now. He’s easier to handle and very tough to beat. Allen Voran has had an infection since his last run and probably wasn’t 100% yet but hats off to the winner. He’s better than mine at the moment.”
Bred by Marie-Laure Besnouin in Normandy, Saint du Chenet, a brother to French Gold Cup second Ma Royale (Garde Royale), was unsold €5,000 at the 2008 Arqana Summer Sale (click here for catalogue page) and Magalen Bryant bought a half share privately afterwards to his breeder.
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