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Guiche History: A new way to a revised Classic

9 May 2021

Guiche History: A new way to a revised Classic

Photo Flop Shot : scoopdyga.com

May, Chantilly

Prix de Guiche

 

Group 3, 3yo colts and geldings, 1,800m/9f, €80,000

Created in 1865

Last winner: Makaloun (c3, FRA by Bated Breath ex Makana, by Dalakhani), owned by Aga Khan, bred by Aga Khan, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, ridden by Christophe Soumillon.

Record-time: 1'49''1 by Absolutely Yes in 2011.

The race is run in 2022 for the 153rd time

 

The 2021 edition

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021, Chantilly Racecourse. - Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) was the last winner of the Prix de Guiche (Gr3) trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, in 2016. For his comeback after 199 days off, Makaloun (Bated Breath) won the 2021 renewal of this potential prep race for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby, Gr1), on June 6.

Today, Makaloun was assisted in his task by his stablemate Veldeni (Exceed and Excel), ridden by Coralie Pacaut. led the field and moved out entering the last straight, leaving an open road for Makaloun to ride. He only had to switch legs as Fort Payne (Rio de la Plata) tried to build some sort of challenge. Merely pushed away by Christophe Soumillon, Makaloun won by half a length, beating Millebosc (Le Havre), already second on this racecourse in April for his seasonal bow. Fort Payne (Rio de la Plata) finished third.

Alain de Royer Dupré had trained Makaloun's dam, Makana (Dalakhani), but Jean-Claude Rouget coached his second dam, Marasima (Barathea). Winner of her only race, at Bordeaux in 2006, she foaled also Markazi (Dark Angel), a Prix Omnium II (L) winner in 2017, later sold €140,000 at Arqana.

Makana was also sold for in foal to Anodin for €14,000 to Jan Krauze, who could not sell her last year in foal to Territories at €160,000.

After Worth Waiting (Prix Minerve 2018) and Cairn Gorm (Prix de Cabourg 2020), also out of a Dalakhani mare, Malakoun provides Bated Breath a 4th Group win in France. Before his Critérium de Saint-Cloud 3rd place, Makaloun had also won the Prix de Condé (Gr3).

 

History

Dedicated to the memory of a famous figure from the horseracing world, this race dates back to the year 1865, when it replaced a "prix spécial (class 4)" run over 10 furlongs at the first meeting of the spring at Longchamp. Rapidly, it attracted the best 3-year-old colts with an eye on the Classics. Originally fixed at 1 mile 2 furlongs, the distance of the Prix de Guiche has undergone various modifications, while remaining around the 2-kilometre mark. From 10 furlongs between 1865 and 1872, it went to 11 furlongs in 1873, 10 furlongs from 1874 to 1900, 11 furlongs in 1901, 10 furlongs from 1902 to 1952, 1 mile 1 ¾ furlongs from 1953 to 1962, 1 mile 1 ¼ furlongs in 1963, 1 mile 1 ¾ furlongs in 1964, 1 mile 1 ¼ furlongs from 1965 to 1967, 1 mile 1 ¾ furlongs 1968 to 1986, 1 mile 1 ¼ furlongs from 1987 to 2 004 and 1 mile 1 furlong since 2005. Due to war, the Prix de Guiche was not run in 1871 or from 1915 to 1918. In 2005, it was held at Chantilly for the first time, becoming a useful prep race for the revised French Derby. Previously, it had taken place at Longchamp, with the exception of two war years, 1944 and 1945, when it found refuge at Maisons-Laffitte.

A good number of winners of the Prix de Guiche have gone on to fulfil the Classic ambitions of their owners. Chief among these are the heroes of four flagship events:

- Prix du Jockey Club: Consul (1869), Revigny (1872), Boïard (1873), Frontin (1883), Little Duck (1884), Reluisant (1885), Ermak (1891), Retz (1902), Negofol (1909), Ardan (1944), Scratch (1950), Sicambre (1951), Top Ville (1979), Lawman (2007), Almanzor (2016).

- Epsom Derby: Relko (1963).

- Grand Prix de Paris: Boïard (1873), Saint-Christophe (1877), Frontin (1883), Little Duck (1884), Nuage (1910), Sicambre (1951), Homme de Loi (1992), Millkom (1994), Valanour (1995), Behkabad (2010).

- Arc: Saint Crespin (1959), Vaguely Noble (1968).

 

The Duc de Guiche (1789-1855)

Antoine-Héraclius-Geneviève-Agénor was the Duc de Guiche and then the Duc de Gramont from 1836, when, on the death of his father, he became head of his household. Having emigrated with his father when the Revolution occurred, he had travelled around part of Europe with him, most notably Russia and then England from 1802. He fought against his country in the English ranks in Portugal and in Spain, returning to France in 1814 when he was appointed cavalry colonel by the Duc d’Angoulême. The latter appointed him to his personal entourage as aide de camp, then as head equerry, and lastly as field marshal. Exiled during the Hundred Days, he returned to France following the allies after Waterloo, taking provisional command of Bordeaux, then of a cavalry brigade. In 1823, he accompanied the Dauphin on the Spanish expedition, after which he was made a lieutenant-general. In 1828, he commanded the 2nd Division of the Lunéville camp cavalry. Upon the July revolution, he followed the royal family to Scotland, returning to France in 1833 where he was declared to have resigned from the army for refusing to take an oath. He then lived in retirement until his death.

It was in 1818 that the Dauphin entrusted the Duc de Guiche with the setting-up in his name of "a production and breeding establishment able to serve as a model to our great owners and encourage subsequent efforts ". And so it was that the Meudon stud farm was created, its charges running under the name of the Duc de Guiche. Under his colours (blue silks), five Meudon residents won the Grand Prix Royal, the main event of the day, held at the Champ de Mars in Paris: Neel (aged 4 in 1823), Pénélope (aged 4 in 1824), Odysseus (aged 4 in 1826), Médéa (aged 4 in 1827) and Vittoria (aged 5 in 1828). In 1818, the Duc de Guiche had the good fortune of importing from England a brood mare covered by Don Cossack, named Sorcerer Mare (1807). Rechristened Sorcière, she gave birth to a female, Geane, in 1819, whose pedigree would be illustrated both on the Champ de Mars and in the leading events at Chantilly. After the July Revolution, the Meudon stud was placed on the civil list of the new king, Louis-Philippe, who gave it to his eldest son, the Duc d’Orléans, in 1833.

In England, where he had stayed for many years, the Duc de Guiche had become a keen advocate of thoroughbred horses. As a result, he introduced new ideas to France that provoked considerable debate. He promoted his theories in several publications, such as De l’amélioration des chevaux in France (1829), Nouvelles observations de M. le duc de Guiche sur l’amélioration des races de chevaux in France (1830) and Considérations sur les institutions hippiques and sur les moyens de propager and d’améliorer les races chevalines in France (1843).

 

Owners

  • Aga Khan (11 wins): Beigler Bey (1954), Hafiz (1955) for Aga Khan III, Jour et Nuit III (1964), White Star (1965), Top Ville (1979), Shakafor (1980), Yashgan (1984), Valanour (1995), Behkabad (2010), Dalwari (2013), Makaloun (2021) for Aga Khan IV.
  • Frédéric de Lagrange (9 wins): Equivoque (1866), Pompier (1868), Consul (1869), Braconnier (1876), Saint-Christophe (1877), Colifichet (1878), Barde (1879), Muscadin III (1880), Gourgandin (1881).
  • Casaque Wertheimer (7 wins): Orante (1975), Gay Mecene (1978), Pluralisme (1983), Val des Bois (1989) for Jacques, Gold Away (1998), Gold Sound (2005), Flop Shot (2019) for Wertheimer&Frère.
  • Edouard de Rothschild (6 wins): Rioumajou (1911), Rabican (1924), Godiche (1930), Nadir (1931), Mousson (1937), Bacchus (1939).
  • Marcel Boussac (5 wins): Grazing (1921), Giaour (1943), Ardan (1944), Norval (1949), Scratch (1950).
     

Trainers

  • Thomas Jennings (9 wins): Equivoque (1866), Pompier (1868), Consul (1869), Braconnier (1876), Saint-Christophe (1877), Colifichet (1878), Barde (1879), Muscadin III (1880), Gourgandin (1881).
  • Jean-Claude Rouget (7 wins): Millkom (1994), Mister Sacha (2004), Behkabad (2010), Dalwari (2013), War Dispatch (2015), Almanzor (2017), Makaloun (2021).
  • Christiane Head (6 wins) : In Extremis (1988), Val des Bois (1989), Roi de Rome (1990), Gold Away (1998), Mizzen Mast (2001), Rouvres (2002).
  • André Fabre (6 wins): Homme de Loi (1992), Martiniquais (1996), Kirkwall (1997), Val Royal (1999), Saint Baudolino (2012), Flop Shot (2019).
  • Alec Head (5 wins): Hafiz (1955), Saint Crespin (1959), Orante (1975), Gay Mecene (1978), Pluralisme (1983).
  • François Mathet (5 wins): Relko (1963), Jour et Nuit III (1964), White Star (1965), Top Ville (1979), Shakafor (1980).
     

Riders

  • Yves Saint-Martin (8 wins): Relko (1963), Jour et Nuit III (1964), White Star (1965), A Tempo (1966), Antipode (1974), Top Ville (1979), Shakafor (1980), Yashgan (1984).
  • George Stern (5 wins): Retz (1902), Avanti (1905), Dihor (1907), Rioumajou (1911), Grazing (1921).
  • Roger Poincelet (5 wins): Plaisir de France (1941), Norval (1949), Beigler Bey (1954), Hafiz (1955), Kirkes (1960).
  • Freddy Head (5 wins): Lisaro (1973), Orante (1975), Gay Mecene (1978), Pluralisme (1983), Val des Bois (1989).
  • Charles Bouillon (4 wins): Godiche (1930), Nadir (1931), Mousson (1937), Bacchus (1939).
  • Olivier Peslier (4 wins): Martiniquais (1996), Val Royal (1999), Gold Sound (2005), Lawman (2007).
  • Christophe Soumillon (4 wins) : Trincot (2008), War Dispatch (2015), Almanzor (2016), Makaloun (2021).