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| Staff Writer |
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Jerome Reynier's Facteur Cheval is aiming for the Queen Anne as part of a trio of horses representing the Marseille-based stable at Royal Ascot.
Although the gelding showed brilliant consistency last season, he struggled to secure victories despite placing in several Group races. He finished as the runner-up in the Prix du Muget, the Sussex Stakes, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, and took third place in the Prix d'Ispahan and the Prix du Moulin.
His reliability was finally rewarded when he triumphed at 20-1 in the Dubai Turf at Meydan in late March after returning to action. Despite running twice outside of France last season, Facteur Cheval will now return to Ascot to compete in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile, as the Royal meeting commences in less than three weeks.
“He is aiming for the Queen Anne on the Tuesday, he came back in very good shape from Dubai. We’re very happy with him,” Reynier said.
“Now he’s going to try to win a second time in a row after having not won for a long while.
“We don’t have any questions about good ground because he won on it in Dubai, and he’s done the straight course at Ascot for the Queen Elizabeth so everything seems to be in good shape for him.”
Accompanying him on the journey will be Darlinghurst, a 3YO Dark Angel colt who has had a flawless record in four starts this year. After securing victories in two Cagnes-Sur-Mer contests earlier in the season, the bay horse elevated his performance to clinch the Prix Maurice Caillault at Chantilly in March, followed by a triumph in the Group Three Prix de Guiche at the same venue in May. He is now entered for the St James's Palace Stakes, which coincides with his stablemate's Queen Anne bid.
“That’s the plan with him, he’s in very good shape. He is unbeaten this year in four starts, he won his maiden, his conditions race, his Listed race and his Group Three,” said Reynier.
“Everything is in good order, the more he goes, the better he is. Last time out in the Prix de Guiche he won in very good fashion.
“He’s a son of Dark Angel and the dam (Dr Simpson) is a Group Three winner over five furlongs, so aiming for the French Derby over 300 metres more wouldn’t have been a good idea.
“He looks like a miler physically, it’s a stiff mile at Royal Ascot and it will be a great race to look forward to.
“It is going to be a pretty tough race because all the Guineas winners are aiming for this race, the English one, the Irish one, the French one, it’s going to be a very interesting race.
“We are very excited for the 18th of June to bring two good horses over for the Group Ones.”
Zarakem, the third horse traveling from France, is looking to bounce back from his defeat in the Prix Ganay and regain the impressive form he showed when he outperformed Horizon Dore to win the Prix d’Harcourt in April.
“We just have to forget about his last run in the Ganay where everything just went wrong,” Reynier said.
“He won well on his reappearance in the Prix d’Harcourt and he has some pretty solid form beating Horizon Dore, who just got beaten in the Prix d’Ispahan.”