New Ground should handle distance in Grand Prix de Paris
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Six 3-year-olds are entered in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris on Sunday at Longchamp Racecourse, but if established form holds, the race comes down to New Ground and Trinity College.
Trinity College figures favored on the North American tote, in great part because he has run two strong races, but also because Ryan Moore rides him for trainer Aidan O’Brien. New Ground figures a more appealing bet, in great part because he’s already proven to stay the Grand Prix de Paris’s 1 1/2-mile distance.
Whether Trinity College gets the trip remains to be seen, though he hit the line still full of energy last month in the 1 1/4-mile Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot. With five races at age 2 – his highest-level performance last year a Group 3 placing – and four more this year, Trinity College is in a position to maximize whatever stamina he possesses, and the colt has improved markedly.
A longshot pacemaker in the 1 5/16-mile Prix du Jockey Club on June 1, Trinity College did his job and then some, setting the table for stablemate Camille Pissarro’s rallying victory, but also holding firm under Wayne Lordan to finish fourth of 18, beaten just one length. Moore took the reins for the Group 2 Hampton Court, where Trinity College broke sharply, set up shop on the lead, kicked clear in midstretch, and cruised to a 3 1/2-length victory over Tornado Alert, who had been a creditable sixth in the Derby.
In a short field Sunday lacking other front-runners, Moore could control the race and back down the pace, and Trinity Gardens might need help seeing out the distance. He’s by Galileo, whose offspring often hit their peak between one mile and 1 1/4 miles, and out of the mare Hermosa, whose best races came over one mile and whose other foal to race is a sprinter.
New Ground, a Juddmonte homebred, went 2 for 2 at age 2 while kept to lower-level racing, ran decently but lost his first two starts at 3, and easily outperformed his 50-1 price in the Derby at Epsom. Pulling harder than ideal when three wide with cover, just a few spots out of last, New Ground was forced inside and into traffic with about three furlongs remaining. He then accelerated impressively once steered outside and into the clear. Despite wandering a bit before the furlong grounds, he sustained his rally to the finish, checking in fourth, just 1 1/4 lengths out of second. A similar showing Sunday under Juddmonte’s retained rider Colin Keane, who rode a different horse in the Derby, could land New Ground his first stakes.
Uther and Frankly Good Cen rate a chance. Uther was undone last time out racing last of five in a paceless contest, while Frankly Good Cen, making just his third start, got stuck in a claustrophobic inside spot in the Prix du Jockey Club, finishing decently for seventh while looking like a colt who’d appreciate a stretch to 1 1/2 miles.
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