12 September 2021
Photo scoopdyga.com
Sunday September 12, 2021, ParisLongchamp Racecourse (Paris). - Only five gathered at the start of the Qatar Prix Niel (Gr2) after Irish favourite Bolshoi Ballett was declared a non-runner due to vaccination issues. The fastest out of the stalls, Media Stream (Frankel) took the lead and was soon joined by the pari-mutuel favourite Pretty Tiger (Sea The Moon) ahead of Timour (Gleneagles) and Baby Rider (Gleneagles), then Bubble Gift (Nathaniel), held in last. Going out of the final bend, everyone was able to try their luck and while the two leaders soon levelled off, Baby Rider took the initiative and soon went away, looking like a winner for a long time to be finally pipped on the post by Bubble Gift. Behind them two, however, Timour was not too lucky as the gap closed ahead of him between the two first home. An inquiry was opened ultimately without consequence on the final order.
Bubble Gift - like Baby Rider, by the way - therefore erases his failure in the Grand Prix de Paris. He'd won the Prix Hoquart (Gr2) in the spring, his second consecutive victory. He then finished second in the Prix du Lys Longines (Gr3) before failing in sixth place in the Grand Prix de Paris (Gr1).
Bred in France by Ali Hakam, Bubble Gift did not go to the sale, unlike his maiden elder sister, Bubble Art (Mastercraftsman), unsold at € 20,000 by Haras de Maulepaire at the Arqana breeding sales, at 3 in 2019. They are siblings to Bubble Chic (Chichicastenango), second in the Prix du Jockey Club before going to Hong Kong to finish a great career at the best local level.