Grosser Preis von Baden (Group 1)

CHRISTOPHE Soumillon and trainer Yann Barberot combined to win the big Group 1 in Baden-Baden on Sunday with the four-year-old Zagrey.

The son of the Aga Khan’s sire Zarak, owned by Ecurie Altima and Gerard Augustin-Normand, boasted excellent form as he had been third in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic behind Equinox and Westover and ahead of Mostahdaf before again going down by two lengths to Westover in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Zagrey’s narrow success represented a first in the race for his jockey and a first Group 1 for his sire, a son of the brilliant Arc winner Zarkava whom Soumillon had partnered to stardom.

The race lost some of its lustre with the late withdrawal of the German Derby hero Fantastic Moon with the ground deemed not soft enough.

However, Derby runner-up Mr Hollywood attempted to make all off a slow early pace, but he was challenged first on his outside by Straight.

When he drifted off the rail, the gap came at the perfect moment for Zagrey, on his inner, and Soumillon had a willing partner in coming with a sustained challenge to get up on the line by a neck with Straight just another half a length away in third.

Accelerate

“When I came into the straight, I knew my horse was going to hang right a lot so I gave him a chance to stay on the bit. He’s always able to accelerate well, so I waited for the gap. It wasn’t a big gap to come through the other horses, but in the last 200 metres, when he saw daylight, he gave me a great turn of foot,” said Soumillon.

Soumillon added: “He’s a really tough horse, that’s the great thing about him. He’s been to Dubai for the winter and that’s given him a lot of maturity. I’m really happy with what he did today.

“We need to see how he comes back from his run, but this is always a good prep race for the Arc,” added Soumillon. “He’d love the softer surface so we’ll see how things go. He’d have a nice chance in the race for sure.”

German-trained runners have a decent record in the Arc, Torquator Tasso completing the double in winning this race and following up in Paris two years ago, and Zagrey was cut to a general 12/1 fifth favourite for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on October 1st.