English/Ire
Speed and stamina on display at Longchamp as Sosie and Candelari win
Sosie and Candelari demonstrated speed and stamina with victories in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan and Group 1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at Longchamp on Sunday.
With only six runners in the 1m1½f Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, the Prix Ganay winner Sosie heading the betting for trainer Andre Fabre and jockey Maxime Guyon. Already a dual winner at the highest level, having won the mile-and-a-half Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris as a three-year-old, he was dropping back in trip for the first time since victory over a mile in September 2023. A possible tilt for the 1m2f Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in July was on the agenda and connections were keen to see if the Sea The Stars colt had the speed for a sharper test.
In the colours of the Wertheimer Brothers, the colt raced freely early on as Caramelito and Sardinian Warrior took them along at a sensible pace. He picked up when asked and quickened well to win going away, with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Sardinian Warrior acquitting himself well to finish second on his first venture into Group company.
In an interview with At The Races, Fabre said: "The Wertheimer Brothers were keen to run him in the Eclipse Stakes to test him at a shorter distance. I was delighted, to see a horse who has the ability to run at a mile and a half or over, to have speed enough to beat such nice horses."
Winning jockey Maxime Guyon added: "He is fantastic. Okay, he is a little bit lazy at this distance, but he has a really big heart in the finish. I am happy because he proves that he can do everything - he is a real Group 1 horse and a champion."
It proved to be a real test of stamina in the 1m7½f Group 1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier as rain hit Longchamp in the early part of the afternoon. The race was a coming-of-age for the lightly-raced Candelari, who races in the colours of the late HH Aga Khan, taking his first Group 1 success. Francis-Henri Graffard's four-year-old son of Frankel had lost his unbeaten record when third to Presage Nocturne at Longchamp in the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville last month, but he turned that form around with ease to come home three and a half lengths clear of Sevenna's Knight, with old rival Presage Nocturne a further half-length behind in third. The victory represented a first Group 1 success for jockey Clement Lecourvre in France and the gelding holds an entry for the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup at the Royal meeting next month.
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