Solow bests Cirrus Des Aigles to seal Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp

The Dubai Turf winner was anchored in third by jockey Maxime Guyon behind main rival Cirrus Des Aigles and long-time leader Gailo Chop for much of the Group 1 race, reports Geoffrey Riddle.

Solow came out on top in the battle of the globetrotting geldings when his blistering turn of foot sealed the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp on Sunday.

The Dubai Turf winner was anchored in third by jockey Maxime Guyon behind main rival Cirrus Des Aigles and long-time leader Gailo Chop for much of the Group 1 race.

With 400 metres to go, Guyon angled out Solow and the grey gelding whipped past Cirrus Des Aigles and snatched the lead from Gailo Chop within a matter of strides. He then lengthened away to win by a length and a half.

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Gailo Chop held on for second with Sparkling Beam third. Cirrus Des Aigles was last of the four runners, but it was reported afterwards that he broke his off-hind shoe in half.

The stage is now set for a mouthwatering clash between Solow, Godolphin’s Night Of Thunder and Hong Kong’s Able Friend in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 16.

Solow thrashed The Grey Gatsby at Meydan Racecourse in March, but that horse looked a shadow of his former self when down the field to Al Kazeem in the Gold Cup at the Curragh.

It was a third win in the Group 1 contest in succession for James Doyle, who rode Al Kazeem to win two seasons ago before the horse was retired to stud.

It was Al Kazeem’s first win at the highest level since his return to racing and his fourth in all. The seven year old will also head to Royal Ascot, for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

When asked whether Al Kazeem was as good as ever, Doyle said: “He is bang there. He has even quickened up a little bit.”

Later in the afternoon Jim Bolger’s Pleascach won the Irish 1,000 Guineas under Kevin Manning from Aidan O’Brien’s Found. Godolphin’s Devonshire justified her supplementary entry by finishing third under Doyle.

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