Friendly Soul Defies Stamina Doubts To Land Prix Vermeille
The Gr.1 Prix Vermeille was run over 2,400 metres on turf at Paris Longchamp, where Friendly Soul, a 5YO mare trained by John and Thady Gosden, led throughout a field of 13 to beat Pink Panthera by three-quarters of a length in a race worth US$758,000 (€696,000) in guaranteed prize money. Bred by George Strawbridge and owned by George and Julia Strawbridge, and ridden by James Doyle, the winning time of 2m 25.46s broke the course record of 2m 26.00s, co-held by Zarkava.
"Once I let out a bit of rein we found that happy medium and she was very brave for a mare who hadn't proven her stamina for this," Doyle said, describing the ride he gave Friendly Soul before she went clear inside the final furlong.
Friendly Soul jumped alertly from stall five and was sent forward from the outset, tracked by Ballydoyle's outsider Composing through the false straight before that challenge faded. She kicked clear approaching the home straight and, though she found little more in the closing stages, held on comfortably enough from the fast-finishing Pink Panthera.
Sunly, ridden by Colin Keane for Francis-Henri Graffard, stumbled leaving the stalls and was bumped again in the straight, yet still finished third, beaten a neck for second and only a length behind the winner. Rabbit's Foot, trained in the same Chantilly yard, was fourth.
Doyle had walked the track with connections beforehand, wary of the stamina question hanging over Friendly Soul. "I had a good chat with everyone who knew her beforehand and she jumped super quick, pricked her ears and then got on me a bit which is what I didn't want," he said.
"She got lonely in front, but when she felt the second coming to her went again," Doyle added. "One thing everyone said before was that she keeps going and she was very tough at the business end. Going a mile and a half on testing ground may not be 100 per cent what she needs, but it could stay dry for the Arc, you never know."
Prix Vermeille Win Secures Arc Route
Thady Gosden confirmed the run settled a question that had followed Friendly Soul through a campaign built at shorter distances, including a runner-up finish behind Diamond Necklace in the Gr.1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood in July. The mare missed last season through injury and had made just three starts on her return before facing 2,400 metres for the first time. "The mile and a half was unknown territory, but she's from one of George Strawbridge's best families and it's wonderful to win over this trip," Gosden said.
"It was a hugely sporting decision from her owners, George and Julia Strawbridge, to keep her in training at this age," Gosden told Sky Sports Racing. "She likes to do things her own way, but was never really able to get a breather and showed that she is a hugely talented filly and tough too," he added.
The victory was Friendly Soul's fourth at Group level and her second at Gr.1, adding to the Gr.1 Prix de l'Opera she won at Paris Longchamp in 2024, and the manner of it — leading for the best part of two and a half minutes without being seriously challenged — settled the stamina question for good on 6 September.
The result also carried weight for the trial itself. The Prix Vermeille is the final leg of France's fillies' Triple Crown, following the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and the Prix de Diane, and its winner takes an automatic Wild Card into the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe three weeks later. Friendly Soul was not previously entered for the Arc; she is now.
For George Strawbridge, the Vermeille adds another leading name to a broodmare band already responsible for the champion Moonlight Cloud. Bred out of In Clover, a Group Three winner by Inchinor, Friendly Soul is by Kingman.
The result put Aga Khan Studs interests to one side on a card the operation otherwise dominated. Erdenali struck first in the Gr.1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, before Varandir won the Gr.2 Prix Niel and Daryz completed the treble in the Gr.2 Prix Foy, all earlier on the same Arc Trials programme at Paris Longchamp.
Gosden confirmed no decision has yet been made on the mare's next start. "We'll talk to George and see how she comes out of this, but it's great to have the option of the Arc and if it comes up soft we know she likes that," he said, leaving the mile-and-a-half Arc and a return to the Prix de l'Opera, run the same day, both alive as possibilities.
Sunly Stumbles, Still Goes Close
Behind the winner, runner-up connections were already looking toward Longchamp's Arc weekend. "We are second, we haven't won, but she showed us she's a very, very good filly," Alain Jathière, co-owner of Pink Panthera, said. "She has heart and gives everything she can. We'll try to win next time."
Jathière said the Prix de l'Opera was the more logical target for Pink Panthera rather than a supplemented Arc run, since she is not currently entered for that race. "I think the logic would rather be to go towards the Opera, especially because she showed us today that this distance was close to her limit," he said, adding that jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot felt the final 50 metres had begun to stretch her.
Sunly's traffic trouble drew a measured response from Francis-Henri Graffard, who described a filly overcoming interference rather than one beaten by the placings alone. "Sunly unfortunately stumbles leaving the stalls, then she suffers interference in the straight, where she gets bumped," Graffard said. "Despite that, she runs a very good line. We'll see how she takes this race and how she recovers from it. The aim is to run her the weekend of the Arc."
Further back, Beautify, Botagoz, Romantic Symphony, Tattycoram, Sparan Nua, Survie, Sugar Island and Lapotheose filled out the field, none able to land a blow on the front-running winner once Composing's challenge had faded.
Friendly Soul walked into the Vermeille with a stamina question and left having broken a course record that had stood since Zarkava. The Gosdens now hold an Arc option they did not have three weeks ago, alongside a Prix de l'Opera defence already won once, and the mile and a half no longer looks like the risk it was before Sunday's race.
Race Info
Prix Vermeille: 16:53 GST (14:53 CEST) | Gr.1 | For 3YO+ Fillies & Mares | Thoroughbred | Turf | 1m 3f 204y (2,400m) | US$758,000 (€696,000) guaranteed | Rail Position: NA | Track Condition: Good to Soft | Safety Limit: NA | Track Record: Friendly Soul, 2m 25.46s, 6 September 2026 | Field: 13 runners | Prize Breakdown: 1st US$373,696 (€342,840.00) | 2nd US$149,504 (€137,160.00) | 3rd US$74,752 (€68,580.00) | 4th unknown | 5th unknown
Result
Prix Vermeille: 1 Friendly Soul (T: John & Thady Gosden / J: James Doyle) | 2 Pink Panthera (T: P Cottier / J: Pierre-Charles Boudot) | 3 Sunly (T: Francis-Henri Graffard / J: Colin Keane)