LAST YEAR’S WINNER Princess Zoe had to settle for fifth as Trueshan proved his class with a conclusive victory in the Prix du Cadran at ParisLongchamp.
Tony Mullins’s six-year-old scored a famous success here last October but never really challenged in a race that developed into a head-to-head between Trueshan and staying giant Stradivarius.
Both horses were travelling well as the field rounded the final bend and they drew level when passing the furlong pole, but it was 9-5 favourite Trueshan – ridden for the first time by James Doyle with Hollie Doyle suspended – who powered to the line, leaving Stradivarius and Frankie Dettori four and a half lengths behind him.
“That was absolutely wonderful,” said co-owner Andrew Gemmell.
“It’s a great day – winning a Group One like the Prix du Cadran. What more can you ask?”
Asked about his future plans for Stradivarius, owner Bjorn Nielsen said: “Age will get to you eventually and he is obviously not as dominant as he once was. You have to think about it and relax and take it all in.
“There are a few studs interested and I haven’t made a decision because his career has been ongoing. I haven’t finalised where he’s going, but I would like to see him stay in England.
“I don’t want him to be like an old boxer who still thinks he can carry on. I don’t want to say ‘yeah we’ll carry on, he’s running well and we’ve got excuses because of the ground’. At some stage you have to draw stumps and say ‘he isn’t what he was’.
“I’m not saying that’s where we are today, but that day is going to come for every horse and it is obviously getting closer.”
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