Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere

Marc Chan's Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), not seen since winning the G2 Vintage S. at Glorious Goodwood on July 27, will resurface in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Oct. 3 at ParisLongchamp. A progressive colt for trainer Ralph Beckett, Angel Bleu broke his maiden at Salisbury on Apr. 25 before taking a Pontefract conditions race on May 28, and he won the Vintage just three days after finishing second in the Listed Pat Eddery S. at Ascot. "All being well he'll head for the Lagardere on Arc...

When Victor Ludorum (GB) (Shamardal) steps out for Monday's keenly anticipated G3 Prix de Fontainebleau at ParisLongchamp, he will do so with the kind of notability that comes as standard for winners of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. France's pre-eminent track's juvenile showcase, previously known as the Grand Criterium, has long proved magnetic to the elite and acts as a significant early exposé of prominent future sires. Back in 1933, Edouard de Rothschild, the grandfather of the current France Galop President of the same name, was represented by his beloved...

The downgrading of a pair of German Group 2s and a distance changes for two key French 2-year-old races were among the outcomes of the European Pattern Committee's annual meeting at the British Horseracing Authority offices on Jan. 23. Germany was hit hardest in the quality control realm, its Meilen Trophy and Goldene Peitsche downgraded from Group 2 status, and the G1 Deutsches Derby, G1 Preis von Europa, G2 Diana Trial and G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis all put on notice for risk of downgrading in 2021. France was issued...