Longchamp: Cirrus des Aigles wins Prix Dollar for third straight year

Cirrus des Aigles won the Group 2 Prix Dollar for the third consecutive year at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Saturday, becoming the first horse to achieve the milestone.

Ridden by Christophe Soumillon, Cirrus des Aigles, the 7-5 favorite, stormed home with a wide rally to win the $272,000 race by 1 3/4 lengths over 13-1 Mandour. Petit Chevalier, a 14-1 longshot, finished third in the field of 13.

A 7-year-old gelding who has won 18 of 51 starts, Cirrus des Aigles struggled earlier this year, losing his first four starts before a Group 3 stakes win at Maisons-Laffitte on Sept. 20.

After Saturday’s win, trainer Corine Barande-Barbe said that Cirrus des Aigles would be pointed for the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot on Oct. 19, a race in which he was second to Frankel last year. Cirrus des Aigles won the 2011 Champion Stakes.

The Prix Dollar was one of four Group 2 stakes at Longchamp on Saturday.

The $337,500 Prix de Royallieu for fillies and mares ended with a measure of controversy when race winner Chalnetta (4-1) was disqualified and placed second for bumping original second-place finisher Ebiyza (12-1) in the final sixteenth.

The margin between the two 3-year-olds was a head, resulting in a disqualification in the 1 9/16t-mile marathon.

Chalnetta, ridden by Julien Auge, raced near the front and took the lead with a furlong remaining when she was challenged by Ebiyza, who was ridden by Christophe Patrice-Lemaire. Galvaun, an 8-1 shot, finished third in the field of nine. The undefeated Pomology was scratched. Yellow and Green, the 14-5 favorite, was sixth. She was fifth in the 2012 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Ebiyza, trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre for The Aga Khan, is an Irish-bred filly by Rock of Gibraltar. The Prix de Royallieu was her first win in five career starts, a span that includes a third in the listed Prix Joubert at Saint-Cloud, France, on Sept. 16.

The former claimer Pollyanna, who won six consecutive races in 2012, won her first group race in the $272,000 Prix Daniel Wildenstein in a 26-1 upset. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Pollyanna closed from mid-pack in a field of 17 to take the lead in the last furlong of the one-mile race.

A 4-year-old Irish-bred filly by Whipper, Pollyanna finished a short neck in front of 23-1 Pinturicchio. The 9-1 shot Siyenica was third, with 9-2 favorite Gregorian only eighth.

The Prix Daniel Wildenstein was Pollyanna’s first win of 2013. Trained by Didier Prod’Homme, Pollyanna was a minor stakes winner at Longchamp last October.

In the $272,000 Prix Chaudenay over 1 7/8 miles, the longest group stakes of the day, Valirann (the even-money favorite) extended his winning streak to four with a neck win over Montclair. Valirann, a 3-year-old colt by Nayef, took the lead in the final sixteenth, prevailing under a confident ride by Soumillon.

The Prix Chaudenay was the first Group 2 win for Valirann, who races for The Aga Khan and de Royer-Dupre. Valirann won the Group 3 Prix de Lutece at Longchamp on Sept. 8.