Vincent Cheminaud, France’s champion jockey over jumps, completed a remarkable double on Sunday when he rode André Fabre’s New Bay to victory in the Prix du Jockey Club [French Derby] at Chantilly, just over 12 months after his success on Storm Of Saintly in the country’s most prestigious event over fences, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.
Cheminaud, 21, took his first ride for Fabre in April and was aboard New Bay when the colt finished fast into second place from well off the pace in the Poule d’Essai Des Poulains [French 2,000 Guineas]. As expected, the son of Dubawi appreciated the step up to 10 furlongs and swept past Aidan O’Brien’s Highland Reel inside the final furlong to win by a length-and-a-half, with War Dispatch another length-and-three-quarters away in third.
The result means that O’Brien, who will attempt to win the Derby at Epsom for the fourth year running on Saturday, is still waiting to saddle his first winner of the French equivalent. New Bay’s victory, meanwhile, was the first for a runner in the famous green, pink and white colours of Prince Khalid Abdullah since Sanglamore in 1990.
“We have had some near-misses with the likes of Famous Name and others,” Teddy Grimthorpe, Prince Khalid’s racing manager, said. “This was a super performance, the way he accelerated, and he showed a great turn of foot to come and win a big race like this.
“I think he has good options, he might even stay the mile and a half. I always think where would we like to end up and then go backwards.
“The Arc or the Juddmonte [International] at York, the Irish Champion Stakes, there are plenty of very nice options. He certainly gets a mile-and-a-quarter and it was soft ground, so would he get the 300 extra metres? We shall see.”
Asked about Fabre’s choice of rider for New Bay, Grimthorpe said: “André called and asked if we would mind having a jumps jockey. He said he was the best. A champion is a champion, he is a champion jockey so why wouldn’t he be able to ride on the Flat?”
New Bay was cut to a top price of 10-1 for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after Sunday’s victory, behind only Treve, the Arc winner for the last two seasons.
“I’m delighted to have won this race and cannot thank the connections enough for giving me this opportunity,” Cheminaud said. “I might have had a bad [wide] draw but it actually worked in my favour.
“Olivier Peslier had talked to me before the race and had given me some good advice. I managed to follow the line of Christophe Soumillon [aboard Karaktar] and my horse picked up really well in the closing stages.”
O’Brien will now turn his attention to Epsom before Monday’s five-day declarations for the Derby, a race in which Gleneagles, his winner of the 2,000 Guineas, is still engaged.
“I think there is another stage tomorrow and I didn’t hear that he was going to be taken out, so I presume he is going to be left in tomorrow – I presume,” O’Brien said at Chantilly.
