Alain and Gérard Wertheimer’s homebred colt Intello added to another wonderful weekend for his sire Galileo when romping to a two-length victory at Chantilly in the Prix du Jockey-Club on Sunday.
Like fellow Classic winners Frankel, Golden Lilac and Roderic O’Connor, Intello is bred on the Galileo-Danehill cross, his dam Impressionnante being a former winner of the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham, which also featured on Sunday’s card and this year went the way of Peace Burg.
Beaten just once in five starts when third to Style Vendome in last month’s Poule d’Essai des Poulains, Intello, who was partnered by Olivier Peslier, is now as short as 6/1 to go on to glory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, in which he would bid to give his trainer Andre Fabre an eighth success in Europe’s premier weight-for-age contest.
The first five places in the Prix du Jockey-Club were all filled by French-trained horses despite a number of overseas challengers being present in the 19-strong line-up. Holy Roman Emperor colt Morandi took second for Jean-Claude Rouget, while Fabre’s other challenger, Godolphin’s Sky Hunter, took third.
Best of the foreign raiders was Ann Duffield’s Willie The Whipper, who races in the colours of Qatar Racing, and took sixth under Jamie Spencer. Having had to settle for second in the Oaks with the favourite Secret Gesture and seventh in the Derby with Chopin, there was some compensation for the Qatar Racing team, which owns Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene winner Spirit Quartz. They did, however, have to wait half an hour to gain the verdict after a prolonged stewards’ enquiry which saw another British-trained runner, Hamish McGonagall, disqualified for causing interference.
