Waldgeist wins first start of year in Prix Ganay

The Group 1 Prix Ganay on Sunday at Longchamp was supposed to be a coming-out party for Ghaiyyath. Instead, it turned into a coming-back party for Waldgeist.

Ghaiyyath, who overwhelmed a short field in leading all the way April 7 in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt, either regressed off that eye-catching win in his first start of the season or just wasn’t capable of coping with a step up in class. He was beaten by a pair of Group 1 winners, finishing third as a sharp Waldgeist rolled to a 4 1/2-length victory and Study of Man nipped Ghaiyyath for second.

Ghaiyyath raced in company with Study of Man early in the Prix Ganay, took a clear lead after a quarter-mile or so, but had no answer at all when Waldgeist made his run a quarter-mile from the finish.

Waldgeist, cutting back to 1 5/16 miles after seven straight 1 1/2-mile races and making his first start since a modest fifth Dec. 9 in the Hong Kong Vase, looked every bit as strong as he had during the meat of his 2018 campaign. Waldgeist, trained by Andre Fabre for Gestut Ammerland and Newsells Park, won four races in a row between May and September last year before finishing a solid fourth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and ending his 4-year-old campaign with less successful performances in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Hong Kong Vase.

But Fabre said Waldgeist can take sterner training this year at 5 than was possible last season, and Waldgeist, easily keeping in touch with Ghaiyyath’s speed, was finely tuned for his season’s debut. By Galileo and out of Waldlerche, by Monsun, Waldgeist figures to step back up to 1 1/2 miles, Fabre mentioning the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a major summer target.

Study of Man, winner of the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) last season, made a favorable impression in his first 4-year-old start and has the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot as a goal.

Ghaiyyath performed creditably and could race at longer distances, trainer Charlie Appleby said, to try to make the best use of his strong-galloping tendencies.