Maxios thrives on cutback in trip in Moulin

Already successful four times at Longchamp, including in the Prix d'Ispahan

over an extended nine furlongs May 26, Maxios

showed abundant speed dropped back to a mile to register an emphatic success in

Sunday's Group 1 Prix du Moulin. Racing ahead of the main group early behind the

isolated rabbit Sage Melody, the Niarchos Family's homebred had extended his advantage over his chief rivals

by the time he passed the pacemaker inside the final quarter-mile. Kept rolling to

the line by Stephane Pasquier, the 3-1 second choice had a five-length margin to

spare over the labored 9-10 favorite Olympic Glory there.

"He has never

been as good as he is now, and to have him at the top of his game at five is a tribute to

his trainer and all his staff," the owner-breeders' Racing Manager Alan Cooper commented.

There was a spell when Maxios looked unlikely to justify his high regard

following his first black-type success in the Prix Thomas Bryon at

Saint-Cloud in October 2010, but the half-brother to Bago was pieced back together by Jonathan Pease and

started to show more last summer. Successful in the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte

around this time in 2012, he signed off after a sixth in the Prix Dollar here and returned to this circuit to annex

the Prix d'Harcourt over 10 furlongs April 7 and run second

to Pastorius in the Prix Ganay three weeks later.

Back to winning ways in the Prix d'Ispahan, he was sent to Royal Ascot for the Prince of Wales's S., but was unable to land a blow on fast

ground and finished sixth in that June 19 feature prior to a well-earned holiday. Pasquier was keen to use

his inherent staying power as a weapon against his reluctant rivals, who sat far off the pace carved out by

Sage Melody for her stable companion Flotilla. Steered around that runner passing the quarter-pole,

the dark bay was still full of run and kept up the relentless gallop as Frankie Dettori managed to drag

Olympic Glory into second having never looked happy on the favorite at any stage.

"We decided to shorten him up to a

mile, mostly on the advice of his jockey but also due to the impression he gave when appearing not to stay the

10

furlongs of the Ganay and Prince of Wales's," the winning trainer explained. "He is better ridden from the

front end like that, and the soft ground helped a lot."

Connections have a range of options open to the five-year-old

now.

"He could run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (at Ascot October 19), or head to the Breeders' Cup or even run in

the Cox Plate (at Moonee Valley October 26)," Cooper said. "He has an invitation to that and we have to

tell the racing authorities whether he is going or not very soon, so we will discuss it and see."

Dettori reported that Olympic Glory was unable to handle the turns, as he had

when flopping in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains over this track and trip May 12.

Also at Longchamp, Mirza and Dibajj dead-heated for the win in the Group 3

Prix du Petit Couvert, an about five-furlong course-and-distance prep for the

Prix de l'Abbaye on Arc Day.

Mirza, whose only black-type success came in Cork's

Midsummer Sprint over this trip in June 2012, had finished seventh in the Garrowby over six at York

last Sunday, while the former Christophe Ferland trainee Dibajj had shaped with more immediate promise when

a close third in the Prix de Meautry over six furlongs at Deauville August 25.

Racing almost side by side

in mid-division through the early strides, the duo were given the hurry up at the quarter-pole and steadily reeled

in Catcall in the shadow of the post to share the spoils in a four-way photo.

Dibajj's trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre

said, "She has been improving with every run since joining me and it was much too soft last time. Today, the ground

was better for her and all being well, she will run in the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp."

Mirza's

owner-breeder Chris Mills also has the Abbaye in mind and told PA Sport, "We were confident coming here, as her dam

Millyant won this race twice. Hopefully we'll be back  here in three weeks now."

At the opposite end of the distance spectrum, Domeside defeated Les Beaufs in

the Group 3 Prix Gladiateur for stayers, an about 1 15/16-mile stepping stone to

the Prix du Cadran.

Taking the unorthodox step of running in a March 31

Saint-Cloud claimer, Domeside stepped up from a win there to hit the board in the Prix de Barbeville over this

course and distance April 28, and was last seen taking the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier from Les Beaufs over track and trip

once more May 26. He raced in mid-division and still moved well as the field straightened for home. Asked for

his full effort with two furlongs to race, Domeside took advantage of a kind split to hit the front at the eighth-pole and enjoyed the luxury of easing down close home to confirm his superiority over the runner-up.

"The ground is

the key to him, which is why we waited since the Vicomtesse Vigier, and

hopefully it will be like this (soft) in the Prix du Cadran," trainer Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez commented. "He was given a

beautiful ride and has not had a hard race."

Les Beaufs' conditioner Valerie Seignoux said of the runner-up, "We

deliberately didn't send him to the lead today, as we knew there were other front runners and there was no point

giving him a hard race with his targets being the Cadran and the Prix Royal-Oak

(at Longchamp October 27)."

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