Make Believe goes wire to wire in French 2000 Guineas

Make Believe led from start to finish and gave trainer Andre Fabre his first win since 2010 in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the French 2000 Guineas, on Sunday at Longchamp.

Fabre also trains the second-place New Bay, who rallied from last at the top of the homestretch to beat 16 rivals while still falling three lengths short of the impressive Make Believe.

Owned by Prince Faisal, Make Believe was making his Group 1 debut Sunday after winning a pair of minor races at 2 and finishing second in the Group 3 Prix Djebel in his 3-year-old bow. He broke well, quickly took command of the one-turn, one-mile race under Olivier Peslier, appeared to set a very moderate tempo, opened up after straightening for the wire, and never was challenged.

Make Believe won comfortably and was timed in 1:36.85 over good-to-soft going. The colt’s connections appear disinclined to stretch him out in distance for the French Derby, and another one-mile race, the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, was mentioned as a possibility.

New Bay, a Juddmonte Farms colt, broke from a poor draw, post 16, and finished with good energy to get second by 1 1/2 lengths over Mr Owen. Highland Reel, an Aidan O’Brien-trained runner who came in for solid betting support, finished sixth.

Eryedya wins French 1000 Guineas

Two races later, Fabre sent out the third-place finisher, Mexican Gold, in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, French 1000 Guineas, but neither Mexican Gold nor the pace-setting runner-up Irish Rookie could stave off a late bid from the heavily favored Ervedya, who powered home on the far outside and got up by three-quarters of a length under Christophe Soumillon.

The winner, a Siyouni filly bred and owned by the Aga Khan, is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, who won the race for the second year in a row, having taken the 2014 edition with Avenir Certain, and for the third time in seven years. Ervedya won her first Group 1, now is 2 for 2 on the season, and has five wins, a second, and a third in her seven-start career.

Rouget said afterward he considers Ervedya a miler at this point and said she could be pointed to the Coronation Stakes in England early this summer.