Alpinista returns with victory in Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud
The 5-year-old mare Alpinista picked up in her 2022 debut right where she left off in 2021, notching the biggest victory of her career Sunday in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud while racing for the first time since November.
Alpinista was 1 1/4 lengths better than runner-up Baratti, an improving 4-year-old Juddmonte Farms homebred who sat a rail trip and held second despite coming under pressure nearly three furlongs from the finish of the 1 1/2-mile Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Odds-on favorite Hurricane Lane, one of the best 3-year-olds in Europe during 2021, when he won three Group 1s and finished third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, had finished a disappointing third at Royal Ascot in his 2022 debut and took a step in the wrong direction Sunday. Tracking the pace wide and without cover, Hurricane Lane had nothing to offer when the field turned into the homestretch, fading to finish eighth in the nine-runner field.
Hurricane Lane was one of two horses Alipinista split when jockey Luke Morris and his mount made their bid with about a quarter-mile left to race. Waiting near the back of the field much of her trip, Alpinista was moved out of the two path for clear running after coming off the corner into the final straightaway. Her bid was strong, decisive, and effective. Alpinista hit the front with more than a furlong to race and, despite possibly tiring slightly, comfortably held clear Baratti.
Perfect in five starts during 2021, Alpinista now has won six in a row, including four straight Group 1s. Her trio of Group 1 successes last summer and fall came in Germany, where she beat subsequent Arc hero Torquator Tasso, and this marked her first win in France following losses in 2019 and 2020. Trained in England by Mark Prescott, Alpinista also began her 2020 campaign in France, finishing fourth in a listed race at Vichy – which show the remarkable progress the mare has made the last two calendar years.
By Frankel out of Alwilda, by Hernando, Alpinista has made her last eight starts over 1 1/2 miles, the distance of the Arc, which now holds appeal as a year-end goal for the mare. Prescott said as much following the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, also suggesting that the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 23 might require running Alpinista back too quickly. Prescott said the mare was slow to come around this spring, accounting for the belated start to her season, but it was worth the wait and there should be still more to come from Alpinista.
* Sammmarco, given a perfect trip by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, won an exciting renewal of the Group 1 German Derby on Sunday at Hamburg. Murzabayev planted his mount just behind the leader while saving ground most of the German Derby’s 1 1/2 miles, and Sammarco came out on top of a tight photo with huge longshot Schwarzer Peter, who closed down the center of the track to miss by a nose. Another nose behind in third was So Moonstruck, who also got an ideal trip, his under Frankie Dettori, and had every chance to win after taking a narrow midstretch lead. Peter Schiergen trains Sammarco, a son of Camelot and Salon Sold, by Soldier Hollow.