Duke of Marmalade wins Ganay

Duke of Marmalade followed in the footsteps of his former stablemate Dylan Thomas and won the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on Sunday. An Irish-bred Danehill 4-year-old, Duke of Marmalade was winning for the first time in seven starts since his maiden victory in June 2006, but he has now positioned himself for all of Europe's best races between a mile and 10 furlongs.

In winning this $470,000, 1 5/16-mile contest, Duke of Marmalade beat German invader Saddex by a half-length at 3.80-1. The two favorites, Mrs. Lindsay (2.80-1) and Zambezi Sun (2.10-1), failed to sparkle and finished fifth and sixth, discomfited, perhaps, by the soft ground which was nevertheless running fast. The winning time for the 1 5/16 miles was 2:08.30.

Rider Johnny Murtagh admitted that Duke of Marmalade was tiring a bit at the end, but the plan is to send him next in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup over the same distance at the Curragh on May 25.