Pastorius

Pastorius produced an impressive performance to win the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on Sunday, beating some high-class rivals in the process.

Settled in third place behind the two pace-makers (his own and Ridasiyna’s), he travelled comfortably, he travelled well into the home straight, but he just had to switch off the heels of the weakening Aga Khan pacemaker to get into the clear. By that time, Maxios was in full flight down the outside and Jonathan Pease’s horse moved right alongside Pastorius just over a furlong from home. Pastorius wouldn’t let him past though, he picked up impressively just inside the final furlong and galloped all the way to the line with his ears pricked, always holding Maxios and giving the impression that he had plenty left to give.

It bodes well for his four-year-old campaign that he was able to win a Group 1 race over a mile and a quarter here, although he probably does need a strong pace over this trip, and he could be even better back up at a mile and a half. On the only two occasions on which he has run over a mile and a half in his career, he won the German Derby and he finished just a length behind Danedream in the Grosser Preis Von Baden. He shouldn’t be under-estimated over a mile and a quarter though, especially if there is the likelihood of a strong pace, and he handles good ground and soft ground, so he is obviously fairly versatile.

He should progress from this, his seasonal debut. Also, this was the first time Olivier Peslier had ridden him. Peslier should keep the ride now when Pastorius goes to Britain, and he may be under-rated as a foreign raider, particularly a German one, and one who could finish just fourth in last year’s Champion Stakes on his only previous visit to Britain. It is interesting that Mario Hofer brought him over to Ascot to run in the Champion Stakes last season, in which he acquitted himself fairly well, and that experience of the track could be valuable if he goes back over for either the Prince of Wales’s Stakes or the King George, although a trip to Singapore is apparently on the cards first.

28th April 2013