PARISLONGCHAMP, WEDNESDAY 14 JUly 2021

The Arc de Triomphe dream is on for

The British colt Hurricane Lane proved in a league of his own after humbling his rivals in the Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp on Wednesday evening. It was the ’s colt’s second group 1 victory in less than three weeks. He is trained in Britain by Charlie Appleby. The son of the great won the at the Curragh on 26 June, having finished third in the for which he was one of the leading fancies. In a race which was totally dominated by the foreign raiders, Wordsworth, trained by Irish handler Aidan O'Brien (who has trained three previous winners of this race), and carrying the colours of the Coolmore and partners, was second. Alenquer, trained in Britain by William Haggas, but born in Normandy at the stud of Gwenaël Monneraye and Lucie Lamotte (La Motteraye), took third. It should be pointed that Hurricane Lane and Alenquer were "last minute" entries, having benefited from the automatic qualifying process set up by Galop in 2019 (by virtue of winning certain designated races), which was designed to make Grand Prix de Paris an even more attractive proposition. Logically, Hurricane Lane will be one of the leading fancies for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which will be run over the same course and distance on 3 October.

THE TECHNICAL RESULT GRAND PRIX DE PARIS Group 1 – 3-y-old colts & fillies - 2.400 metres (12f) - 600.000 € 1st HURRICANE LANE Frankel ex Gale Force () Trainer: Charlie Appleby Jockey: Owner: Godolphin Breeder: Normandie Stud Limited 2nd WORDSWORTH ex Chelsea Rose () Trainer: Aidan O’Brien Jockey: Olivier Peslier Owner(s): Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor Breeder: Barronstown Stud 3e ALENQUER Adlerflug ex Wild Blossom (Areion) Trainer: William Haggas Jockey: Owner : M.M Stables Breeder: Gestüt Romerhof 11 ran. Margin : 6 - 5/4 - Head. Time: 2’33’’59

WHAT CONNECTIONS SAID

William Buick (jockey of Hurricane Lane, 1st) “I would like to start by thanking France Galop, who have worked with the BHA. Their collaboration has made sure that everything was in place so that I could come and ride the horse. On Monday weren't even sure it would be possible! That was already a small victory. This horse is a superstar. He really had the perfect race today, unlike at The Curragh. The layout of the racecourse, the ground, the rhythm… Everything was perfect for him. He has a good cruising speed and a strong acceleration. Even more so, he is a very relaxed horse in his head! Off the back of that I think that the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has to be a serious option for the autumn time"

Charlie Appleby (trainer of Hurricane Lane, 1st) “He’s obviously been a very exciting horse to deal and he’s only been beaten once in his life and that was in the Derby when I felt inexperience caught us out. Today’s performance has franked him as one of the best three-year-olds in Europe and he’s an exciting horse. As we always do we’ll allow the dust to settle but you would have to be thinking about him as a serious contender for the Arc. We’ll give him a bit of a break now because he’s run in an English Derby, and Irish Derby and then backed it up two and a half weeks later in a Grand Prix de Paris. He deserves to have a break but whether he can give himself a break is another thing. He ran in the Grand Prix because he’d come out of the Irish Derby so well. He has a great constitution. He has a great mind and he show his wellbeing in the morning. A huge team effort goes into the way the horses are running at the moment and I’m delighted for his Highness Sheikh Mohammed

Olivier Peslier (jockey of Wordsworth, 2nd) “He has ran well, despite not taking me along early. I had to shake him along to get him to follow the winner, to make sure I didn't get caught for toe. After that, he was very courageous and put in an excellent effort to finish second. He will be better suited by something a bit longer like the St Leger. He needs a little time to get going but he is quite talented.”

James Doyle (jockey of Alenquer, 3rd) “The draw wasn’t ideal. As we know it’s not easy historically from the wide draw at Longchamp over a mile and a half. I rode him to come home and he’s finished off very well. We were on the back foot a little bit and I had a little look up around the 800 metres out and I thought we had a bit of a mountain to climb. If the pace had held up it would have given me a chance but they did sort of steady at half way and made it very difficult for me to get into it. But I’m very proud of him, he’s run a solid race and he’s got the trip well. ”

Contact Presse France Galop : Héléna Dupuy – email : [email protected] – Tel. : 01 49 10 22 10