There was heartbreak for Eddy Hardouin and unadulterated joy for Joey Sheridan at the end of a dramatic renewal of ParisLongchamp’s G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran on Saturday as Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) reeled in the trail-blazing Alkuin (Ire) (Maxios {GB}) in the dying strides. Sent off the 3-1 second favourite having made it four straight wins in Galway’s 12-furlong Listed Oyster S. on similar ground Sept. 8, the grey sat towards the rear of mid-division early as Hardouin had his rivals strung out going it alone on Alkuin. Still on his own and travelling strongly in the false straight, that rival forced the 2018 hero and 13-10 market-leader Call the Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}) into action there along with Princess Zoe who remained too far adrift for comfort. Giving her all for Sheridan once straightened for home, the German-bred and Irish-trained mare made relentless progress as the line stayed painfully out of reach for Alkuin. Stripping him of certain success close home, Princess Zoe provided trainer Tony Mullins with the ultimate thrill. “It’s an amazing story, as she was bought for very little in Germany by a friend of mine and has not stopped improving,” he said. “She has such heart and even 100 yards from the line I didn’t know if she would get there, but it’s such a relief and a feeling I’ve never experienced in my life, even though there have been great moments before. She’s just as effective over a mile and a half–she never gives up, so maybe next year she can go for the Arc.”
Just a handicapper under the care of Stefan Richter, Princess Zoe had yet to be tried beyond 11 furlongs before shipping to Ireland and showed immediate appreciation for staying trips when second on her debut for her new connections in a 13-furlong Navan handicap June 23. That turned out to be her last reversal and after two handicap wins within the space of a week at the Galway festival over 17 furlongs and a mile and a half she successfully collected her first piece of black-type in that venue’s Oyster. “I certainly didn’t think three months ago this was going to happen, but Joey Sheridan came down to work her last week and when she pulled up, I said we were going to win in France,” Mullins added.
“She just kept improving so fast, even before the listed race she won–I had been eyeing it because she was improving at such a rate I wasn’t able to keep up to her. The owner [Paddy Kehoe] and his sister [Philomena] are huge Cheltenham fans and we had her pencilled in. Then she started improving so fast I said to Paddy ‘we’ll go to France and if she wins I’ll be recommending she doesn’t go jumping’, not for the moment anyway. At Auteuil, on the other side of the Bois de Boulogne, I won the French Champion Hurdle on Dawn Run in 1984, so it’s 36 years and that was a great day too. As a jockey I used to love it–as a trainer, to win a group one is just off the scale.”
Alkuin had won his three non-black-type starts here by a cumulative margin of 21 lengths, so was not running out of turn. For his trainer Frederic Rossi, the disappointment was palpable however. “My horse ran a blinder, but I felt if he had kicked on more strongly at the top of the straight he would have won,” he commented. “It’s hard to say, but I feel he was beaten more by a turn of foot than anything else. It’s possible he could come back for the [G1 Prix] Royal-Oak if he comes out of this in good order.”
Princess Zoe, who becomes the first group 1 winner on the flat for Jukebox Jury, is out of Palace Princess (Ger) (Tiger Hill {Ire}) whose prior best is the four-times group scorer and G1 Deutsches Derby runner-up Palace Prince (Ger) (Areion {Ger}). Palace Princess is kin to the G2 Oettingen-Rennen wininer Pepperstorm (Ger) (Big Shuffle), his G2 Grosse Europa-Meile-winning full-brother Peppercorn (Ger) and G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten-winning full-sister Peppershot (Ger). Their dam Pasca (Ger) (Lagunas {GB}) is a three-parts-sister to the G2 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) heroine Padang (Ger) (Ile de Bourbon).
Saturday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX DU CADRAN-G1, €180,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-3, 4yo/up, 20fT, 4:38.88, hy.
1–PRINCESS ZOE (GER), 125, m, 5, by Jukebox Jury (Ire)
1st Dam: Palace Princess (Ger), by Tiger Hill (Ire)
2nd Dam: Pasca (Ger), by Lagunas (GB)
3rd Dam: Palmas (Ger), by Neckar (Ger)
1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Patrick F Kehoe & Mrs Philomena Crampton; B-Gestut Hony-Hof (GER); T-Tony Mullins; J-Joey Sheridan. €102,852. Lifetime Record: SW-Ire, 21-7-6-3, €252,502. *1/2 to Palace Prince (Ger) (Areion {Ger}), Hwt. Older Horse-Ger at 7-9.5f, MGSW & G1SP-Ger, SW-Fr, $462,429. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Alkuin (Ire), 128, g, 5, Maxios (GB)–Almerita (Ger), by Medicean (GB). O-Guido Werner Hermann Schmitt; B-Dr Christopher Berglar (IRE); T-Waldemar Hickst. €41,148.
3–Call The Wind (GB), 128, g, 6, Frankel (GB)–In Clover (GB), by Inchinor (GB). O/B-George Strawbridge (GB); T-Freddy Head. €20,574.
Margins: HF, 15, 9. Odds: 3.10, 15.00, 1.30.
Also Ran: Windstoss (Ger), Cacophonous (GB), Barbados (Ire), Apadanah (Ger), Sublimis (Ire), Think of Me (Ger). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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