Marchand D’Or

Marchand D’Or came just too late when finishing third in the five-furlong Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene at Chantilly last Sunday. He was held up through the early stages under regular rider Davy Bonilla. As the race began to unfold, the Mikel Delzangles-trained gelding had to be switched right to the wide outside, from here he stayed on well under what looked a considerate ride from his jockey, just failing to get up by a half a length.

This was another promising run from Marchand D’Or on the back of a really good performance when winning over an inadequate five furlongs on his seasonal debut at Longchamp. However, it just looked as though he ran and was ridden as if this was a prep race for something else, his jockey was not too hard on him late on, only giving him one smack. He may well have even won had he not lost ground when moving to the outside at the halfway stage. He remains top class and he looks to have regained his best form since moving to his new trainer this year. He could well be under-rated, especially outside of France. He is in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket, and he will be of major interest in either or both of those contests.

6th June 2010