Al Shaqab Racing’s Calgary yet again turned on the style. Consequently, the gelding remains unbeaten in the wake of his clear-cut victory in the Class 1 Prix des Poulains, a race for three-year-old colts and geldings over 2,200m, scoring his third win in as many starts.
On this particular Thursday card at Lyon-Parilly, the Frederic Rossi-trained runner shadowed the leader Blackjac Du Houley – he was never more than three-quarters of a length behind the latter – before taking the lead in the mid-stretch and easing his way to a comfortable two-length win in front of Francis-Henri Graffard-trained and Christophe Soumillon-ridden Prometeo. Blackjac Du Houley was a further short head behind in third for trainer Y. Barberot and jockey Gregory Benoist.
Jockey Sylvain Ruis said, “He really has a lot of quality. He has taken another step forward and has proved that he’s a really good horse. He still has scope for improvement, as I didn’t have to get serious on him in the straight. It’s a real pleasure to ride horses like him.”
Bred by Al Shaqab Racing, Calgary is a son of Olympic Glory, the Haras de Bouquetot sire, and Brezena. The latter is the sister of La Conquérante, who ran third in the Prix de Royallieu (which enjoyed Gr2 status at the time), and third in both the Prix Cléopatre and the Prix Minerve (Group 3s). Brezena has a two-year-old, El Bnoud, currently in training with Rossi and a foal by Ectot.