Racing
Clarehaven duo Detain and Bowmark ready for Chantilly mission
The John and Thady Gosden team have confirmed they will saddle both Detain and Bowmark in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly on Sunday.
"The plan is to run both," said joint-trainer Thady Gosden. "They've come out of their last races well. Detain ran nicely in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and has travelled back well. He seems in good order, while Bowmark has done well since his win at York."
A smart winner of a Chelmsford conditions race on his seasonal reappearance, Detain will head back to France having stayed on strongly to finish sixth in the one-mile Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp earlier in the month, shaping as though the step up to Chantilly's extended mile and a quarter Prix du Jockey Club trip would suit.
Thady Gosden said: "He has been in good order since the Poulains. That was his first foreign trip, and he took the experience very well.
"He ran a nice race at Longchamp and was doing all his best work late on.
"We always had this race (Prix du Jockey Club) in mind for him. We thought the Poulains would be a good place to first before going onto the Jockey Club
"He is by Wootton Bassett out of Nisriyna, so his pedigree suggests this will suit him. He's a half-brother to Arrest. They are different types physically, but you wouldn't expect stamina to be an issue for him at all."
Thady Gosden also revealed that they had snapped up Christophe Soumillon to take the ride on Detain, with Tom Marquand set to partner Bowmark.
On securing the services of Christophe Soumillon, Gosden added: "Well, he's obviously Christophe Soumillon. He is a world class jockey and was available for the ride. So, after discussions he kindly accepted the ride for the race."
Whilst Detain has proven himself to be capable of mixing it with some of the best in Group 1 company, Bowmark will take the plunge into the top-level after following up his second-place finish in the Listed Burradon Stakes at Newcastle with a facile win in a novice event at York.
"He ran a very good race to finish second first up in the Burradon Stakes, against some pretty hardy and more experienced three-year-olds," explained Gosden.
"We always thought he was a talented colt. We brought him back to York for a novice to learn a little bit after the Listed race and take advantage of coming second in that.
"He has an exceptional pedigree being a homebred of Lordship Studs and being out of the mare Bound, who herself is a half-sister to an Epsom Derby winner. He's by Kingman and has always shaped as though he has stamina for this race.
"William Buick, who rode him at York, said he galloped out very strongly and gave him the feel that a mile and a quarter would be his optimum trip.
"It's a big jump up into the French Dery but he's really matured after those first few runs and deserves to be there."
Check out the latest South African News