Andre Fabre has already been champion trainer in France an astonishing 29 times and yet again he heads the field in 2019, a lead that could be stretched if Persian King does what many anticipate he will do and that is to win the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (1600m) at Longchamp in Paris on Sunday.
Fabre has won this Classic – the French version of Newmarket’s 2,000 Guineas – six times but his latest challenger will arrive at the great Parisian racecourse with perhaps as big a reputation as any.
The bay son of Kingman closed out 2018 with a successful cross channel raid on the G3 Autumn Stakes over 1600m at Newmarket, having to stretch and battle under Pierre-Charles Boudot. The colt he had to dig deep to beat was Magna Grecia who enhanced the form massively last weekend when he surged away from his Newmarket rivals in the 2,000 Guineas (G1 1600m).
Much less of a battle was involved when the three-year-old – who will run in the Godolphin colours following the purchase of a 50% share – delivered a flawless winning romp from the front on his 2019 return in the Prix de Fontainebleau on 14 April – a G3 trial over the Poulains course and distance.
Fabre describes Persian King as “laid back and easy to train,” and reflects on that Fontainebleau win: “It couldn’t have gone much better. He was impressive without having to have a hard race.”
Possibly the biggest threat to Persian King is easing ground and, though he has won on a slow surface, it will be remembered that Fabre had briefly considered switching Persian King to Newmarket’s Guineas to escape a soft surface in Paris. Currently some rain is predicted in the Paris region.
Another threat to Persian King is Anodor whose own trainer Freddy Head knows a bit about winning this race – as he won it six times, something no rider has bettered since the Poulains commenced its history way back in 1840.
Anodor beat Persian King into second when both debuted in a newcomers race at Deauville last summer and, like Persian King’s supporters, Head would rather that the rain stayed away.
A gate-to-wire winner of the G3 Prix des Chenes over the Poulains course and distance last September, Head gave Anodor a racecourse gallop at Longchamp a few weeks ago but has deliberately avoided one of the established trial races.
Head said: “British and Irish trainers often send their horses without a prep for these big early season races and that strategy frequently seems to work. French trainers tend to think a prep is necessary but sometimes that can result in too hard a race. Anyhow, Anodor can perform well fresh and I’m happy with him.”
Some star fillies compete for the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (1600m) including Watch Me and Suphala, who fought out an intense closing struggle in the G3 Prix Imprudence (1400m) at Maisons-Laffitte last month. There was only a short-neck between them at the post, and some are sure to side with the Fabre-trained runner-up Suphala this time considering how “wintery” some track observers reckoned she still appeared on that first start since last September.
Another serious player will surely be the Carlos Laffon-Parias trained Matematica, who led 200m out in the prestigious G1 Prix Marcel Boussac (1600m) at Longchamp last October only to be nailed in the last strides. Laffon-Parias sounds as though he still feels some pain from that defeat: “It was only her second start. She got to the front and didn’t know what was happening. Only inexperience got her beat.”
