Spanish Moon scores off three-month break

Spanish Moon made good in his first start in three months with a convincing victory in the Group 1, $556,000 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in which the favored Youmzain failed once again in finishing third.

A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of El Prado and a full brother to Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes winner Shining Sun, Spanish Moon came from fourth under Ryan Moore to lead 150 yards form the line in defeating the filly Alpine Rose by 1 1/2 lengths. Youmzain was an unthreatening third, 1 1/2 lengths further back with Curtain Call fourth. The time for the 1 1/2 miles on soft ground that was drying out all afternoon was 2:27.40.

A nose second to Eastern Anthem in the 1 1/2-mile Dubai Sheema Classic on March 29 when Youmzain was fourth, Spanish Moon had been scratched at the gate by order of the starter for refusing to enter the gate in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket on May 2. It was the third time in the last year that he had done that in Britain, earning him a one-year suspension from racing in that country. Stoute went out of his way to thank the Saint-Cloud starting gate crew for taking care to load his horse into the gate. Sent off at 5.90-1 as part of a Juddmonte Farms entry with eventual sixth-place finisher Ideal World, Spanish Moon had won three listed races last year, one of those on Polytrack, and finished a short head second in the Group 3 Arc Trial. Stoute said that the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in which Youmzain has twice finished second, would be Spanish Moon's likely long-term target.