New Bay stretches clear of Highland Reel in French Derby

With just three starts to his name prior to Sunday's Prix du Jockey Club

(Fr-G1), New Bay (Dubawi) was as raw as his

21-year-old partner, the champion

jumps jockey Vincent Cheminaud,

but the pair belied their

inexperience to deliver the goods

for the potent Khalid Abdullah-Andre Fabre connection at

Chantilly.

Sent off the 16-5

favorite as the Parisiens banked on

him marginally above Karaktar (High Chaparral), the

homebred -- who was a highly promising second in the May 10 Poule d'Essai des Poulains

(Fr-G1) -- swooped from rear

with a decisive surge to master Highland Reel (Galileo) passing the 300-meter point and secure a 1

1/2-length triumph in race-record time (2:05.69 for about 1 5/16 miles).

"This is

unbelievable and a dream," Cheminaud commented. "At

the beginning of the season, my only target was to lose

my claim on the flat and I never imagined winning the Jockey Club."

Fabre

welcomed back a fourth winner of this classic.

"He had shown in

the Poulains that he has a great turn of foot and we really thought he would stay,"

the trainer said.

"He looks as

if he will stay even further, so he has plenty of options."

Like his stable companion Make Believe (Makfi), New Bay was kept away

from

black-type races at two and his debut could hardly have been seen as an advert

for a

future classic winner, as he was beaten two lengths by the filly Urjuwaan (Cape

Cross), who has failed to win another race.

Returning to upset the Niarchos Family's

well-regarded Tale of Life (Deep Impact) in a conditions event over

the Poule

d'Essai des Poulains mile at Longchamp April 20, he entered the May 10 classic an

underdog with obvious potential and ran like that from

his unfavorable wide post position. Making up ground

hand-over-fist under Cheminaud all the way up

the straight once Make Believe had flown, he looked

tailor-made for this increased demand of stamina, but

enthusiasm was tempered by a second slice of ill

fortune when the draw was made on Friday.

With little

option other than holding up his mount from stall 13, Cheminaud waited with one behind early but had his

chief market rival Karaktar just ahead to help with his

orienteering. After that rival had been committed by

Christophe Soumillon down the outer with a quarter-mile remaining, New Bay was unleashed with a killer

turn of acceleration once the whip was felt and quickly had his measure. Surging

by the

much-improved Poulains beaten-favorite Highland Reel before the eighth pole, the

bay only

needed a couple more flicks with the whip to readily assert as the slightly

unlucky War

Dispatch (War Front) stayed on into third.

Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe

said of

the winner, "It is a fantastic result and a great moment for Juddmonte and the

whole

team. We knew he had a great turn of foot and although we probably expected him

to be

a little closer to the pace early on that's the way it turned out with the draw.

He is a classy

horse who might stay a mile and a half, so the Grand Prix de Paris ([Fr-G1] at Longchamp July

14) is an option along with the Eclipse S. ([Eng-G1] at Sandown July 4), but he'll be

in all the top

races and we'll decide in time."

Aidan O'Brien said of Highland Reel, "He ran a very good race. He progressed

well from the last race and he has a lot of options. There is the Irish Derby ([Ire-G1] at

the Curragh June

27) or the Eclipse."

New Bay hails from one of Juddmonte's most prolific families. His third dam,

Bahamian,

produced Wemyss Bight (Dancing Brave), the dam of four-time Grade 1 winner

and

sire Beat Hollow (Sadler's Wells). Bahamian is the second dam of Oasis

Dream

(Green Desert) and Zenda (Zamindar), the dam of Horse of the Year Kingman

(Invincible Spirit).

Fabre also sent out Godolphin's Manatee (Monsun) to victory in Sunday's Grand

Prix de Chantilly (Fr-G2), extending his record haul in the contest to nine, but

his first since 2000.

Untested as a juvenile, Manatee debuted with a course-and-distance firsters'

win last April, but slipped to second, after nearly five months off, at lowly

Chateaubriant

next time September 9. Back in the winning groove tackling 15 furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte

September 29, he closed his season posting a breakthrough score in the Prix du Conseil de

Paris (Fr-G2) at Longchamp October 19, and opened this term with a fourth in the

May 6 Prix d'Hedouville (Fr-G3) back at the Bois de

Boulogne track last time.

Manatee stalked a steady pace in

third for the most part here. Shuffled back to fourth on the

home turn, he came under pressure approaching the final

quarter mile and found a wealth of reserves under a continued

drive in the latter stages to repel the ominous threat of market

rival Prince Gibraltar (Rock of Gibraltar).

"Manatee has steadily improved since his

first run of the season in the Prix d'Hedouville at Longchamp

and that was a good performance today," commented Fabre. "We shall now run him

in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud ([Fr-G1] June 28)."

Fresh from annexing Saturday's Sandy Lane S. (Eng-G2) with Adaay (Kodiac)

at Haydock, the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum-William Haggas axis repeated

the

dose in another straight dash as Muthmir (Invincible Spirit) claimed a career

high with a narrow verdict in Sunday's Prix du Gros-Chene (Fr-G2).

The gelded bay served his apprenticeship in handicaps last term, garnering

valuable pots in

the July 26 Skybet Dash H. at York and September 13 Portland H. at Doncaster,

while

also

running fifth in the August 2 Stewards' Cup H. at Glorious Goodwood. He lined up

for this first overseas foray coming back off an attempt to make all in the May

13

Duke of

York S. (Eng-G2) back at York.

Reverting to hold-up tactics, Muthmir was steadied in

sixth after the

initial strides. Slightly impeded when pushed along to close inside the two

pole, he

quickened smartly and kept on strongly under a drive in the closing stages to

deny Catcall (One Cool Cat)

in a thrilling finish.

"He was looking around when the gates opened and took

(jockey) Paul (Hanagan) by surprise," explained trainer's wife, Maureen Haggas. "He eventually

got a

good trip and kept on strongly to the line. It is (Royal) Ascot now and the

King's

Stand S. ([Eng-G1] June 16)."

With another second, Catcall registered a hat-trick of runner-up finishes in the

contest.

"Catcall is coming back to his best," said owner Gerard Samama. "He's been

runner-up in

this race for the last three years and maybe we will eventually win it next

year."

Invincible Spirit was responsible for another Group 2 winner at Chantilly

Sunday, for his three-year-old filly Impassable posted a mild upset in the Prix

de Sandringham (Fr-G2).

Off the board in juvenile starts at Maisons-Laffitte and Saint-Cloud, Impassable

opened

her sophomore campaign with a seven-furlong maiden score on the Polytrack here

March

12, but slipped a notch in a one-mile conditions heat back at Saint-Cloud in her

penultimate outing April 5. Wertheimer & Frere's homebred bay stepped up from a May 2 conditions

score

over this course and distance last time and dented lofty reputations by

registering a career

high in this black-type debut.

Steadied off the pace in fifth until turning for

home, she

came under pressure when angled into clear runway with 300

meters remaining and swooped late under a final-furlong drive

to deny the resolute long-time leader La Berma (Lawman). "TDN Rising

Star" Night of Light (Sea the Stars) got the better of Poule d'Essai des

Pouliches (Fr-G1) placegetter Mexican Gold (Medaglia d'Oro) in the

battle for third.

"She's a lovely filly with a fantastic turn of

foot and we really hoped she'd run a great race today," said winning trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias. "It's now on to a Group 1

and that will most likely be the Prix Rothschild ([Fr-G1] August 2) at

Deauville. We shall split our trump cards and send (Prix du Muguet [Fr-G2] victress) Bawina

(Dubawi) to the Falmouth S. ([Eng-G1 July 10) at Newmarket.

Workmanlike when successful in the 11-furlong Prix de la Seine at Longchamp May

10,

the imposing Kataniya (Raven's Pass) was far from flashy again in Sunday's Prix

de Royaumont (Fr-G3), this latest rung on the

ladder, but again

delivered where it mattered under a tactically astute ride.

Kept away from the other runners and wide out on the track initially by Soumillon, the bay was

brought

over to spearhead the field after the first half-mile and was doing little more

than a

half-speed passing the chateau. Receiving the typical French ride of being asked

the

question only with a quarter-mile left, the Aga Khan's homebred took time to organize as

Sea Calisi (Youmzain)

stayed on down the outer but was always doing enough to hold on.

"It was a

deliberate

tactic by Christophe to isolate her in the early part of the race, as she has a

huge stride

and we didn't want her to be caught behind in traffic," trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre

explained. "She's a strong galloper who has won on merit and as she has already

run four

times this year she maybe needs a break now. She will tell us if she does and if

she

doesn't, the logical next race is the Prix de Malleret ([Fr-G2] at Saint-Cloud June

28), but if she

needs some rest she could go straight to the Irish Oaks ([Ire-G1] at the Curragh July

18)."

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