By Tom Frary
All eyes were on the returning G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Look De Vega (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in Sunday's G2 Qatar Prix Niel at ParisLongchamp, but while he appeared to run out of stamina the Wertheimers' Sosie (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}–Sosia {Ger}, by Shamardal) proved that is his strong suit to book his Arc ticket. Rested since his G1 Grand Prix de Paris success over this course and mile-and-a-half trip, the Andre Fabre-trained homebred shadowed that Classic-winning peer throughout the early stages with Ronan Thomas happy to let the 7-10 favourite bowl along in front.
Sent forward by Maxime Guyon as the petrol gauge started to empty in his chief rival approaching two out, the 100-30 second favourite drew away to beat Delius (GB) (Frankel {GB}) by 1 1/2 lengths, with Look De Vega two lengths behind in third.
“He is a very good horse with a lovely temperament, we knew he stays this trip, he loves Longchamp and he has improved,” the owner-breeders' racing manager Pierre Yves Bureau said of the winner, who had been third to Look De Vega in the Jockey Club and enters the big event as a lightly-raced, still-unexposed type. “It's been a great season and we need to keep it going.”
“Logically, he will head to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and physically-speaking, he's reaching maturity,” he added. “The colt showed a good turn of foot. He has a very calm temperament, which is certainly an asset when it comes to the big occasions.”
Hermine Bastide, representing Coolmore, said of Delius, “He ran really well and the whole team is delighted–he finished where we expected him to and was 80 per-cent wound up for this. Ioritz Mendizabal wasn't unduly hard on him and we'll mull matters over with his owners as he has the option of heading to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.”
Yann Lerner was still thinking of an Arc tilt with Look de Vega. “We know that these races can be tactical affairs, so we wanted to ensure that he got the race he needed because we know he's well above his optimal weight compared to the Prix du Jockey-Club,” he explained. “Despite the fact that he's been cranked up on the training grounds, he was a long way off his best form. He needed to get a race under his belt to help him to be in mint condition in three weeks' time.”
“His rider said that he battled well upsides Sosie until asking for a breather in the final 200 metres and we know that the colt has a lot of scope for improvement,” he added. “We need to ensure that he's in top form come the big day. In three weeks' time, he'll be cherry ripe.”
Pedigree Notes
Sosie's dam Sosia, who was placed in the Listed Prix Coronation, is also responsible for the dual listed winner and the four-times group 3-placed Anasia (GB) (Intello {Ger}), the listed scorer Copie (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and the G3 Prix Daphnis runner-up Sosino (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). The second dam Sahel (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) produced the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner Sortilege (Ire) (Tiger Hill {Ire}) who is in turn the second dam of last year's G2 Union-Rennen winner and G1 Grosser Preis von Baden runner-up Straight (Ger) (Zarak {Fr}).
Sahel is a full-sister to the G1 Deutsches Derby-winning pair Samum (Ger) and Schiaparelli (Ger), as well as the G1 Preis der Diana heroine and Deutsches Derby runner-up Salve Regina (Ger) who is also the third dam of this year's G3 Zukunfts-Rennen winner Santagada (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), with this being the family of the runaway Deutsches Derby hero and sire Sea The Moon (Ger) by Sea The Stars. Sosia's unraced 2-year-old colt by Camelot (GB) is named Uther (GB), while her a 2024 full-brother to Sosie is named Jumeau (Ire).
(@maximeguyon_off – A. Fabre) enlève le Qatar Prix Niel (Gr.2) et confirme sa classe.
Delius
perd son invincibilité, il termine pic.twitter.com/Hyy2FcRokY
— Equidia (@equidia) September 15, 2024
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX NIEL-G2, €130,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-15, 3yo, 12fT, 2:34.33, sf.
1–SOSIE (IRE), 128, c, 3, by Sea The Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Sosia (Ger) (SP-Fr), by Shamardal
2nd Dam: Sahel (Ger), by Monsun (Ger)
3rd Dam: Sacarina (GB), by Old Vic (GB)
O/B-Wertheimer & Frere (IRE); T-Andre Fabre; J-Maxime Guyon. €74,100. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr, 6-4-1-1, €642,890. *1/2 to Anasia (GB) (Intello {Ger}), MSW & MGSP-Fr, $147,779; Copie (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}), SW-Ger; and Sosino (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), GSP-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Delius (GB), 128, c, 3, Frankel (GB)–Whatami (GB), by Daylami (Ire). TDN Rising Star. (675,000gns Wlg '21 TATFOA). O-Mrs John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor & Westerberg; B-Mr & Mrs David Brown (GB); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €28,600.
3–Look De Vega (Fr), 128, c, 3, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Lucelle (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire). (€160,000 Ylg '22 ARQAUG). O-Al Shaqab Racing, Ballylinch Stud Et Al; B-Haras de la Morsangliere & Ecurie des Charmes (FR); T-Carlos and Yann Lerner. €13,650.
Margins: 1HF, 2, SNK. Odds: 3.30, 6.70, 0.70.
Also Ran: Wintertraum (Ger), Ambiente Friendly (Ire). Scratched: Augustus (Ger).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
