Maxios wins thrilling Prix d'Ispahan – Horseracing News
Maxios landed successful in the Prix d'Ispahan (Group 1) in France after a thrilling battle against Planteur.
The former of the two stallions was given the best odds for victory and he proved his worth in the end, winning by half a length. He was under immense pressure though and things did not turn out to be easy for him by any means.
Despite that, he held his nerves and came out on top.
Alan Cooper, who was representing Maxios’ owners, said after the race, “He was held in a little by Zinabaa so Stephane (jockey) had to wait. I’m delighted for Jonathan (trainer) who has always believed in this horse. He had his
setbacks at three but at four and especially now at five he's proved he's a very good horse.”
Overall, the seasoned horse has got a pretty decent winning record and he has been delivering some decent results this year, which is quite pleasing to see for his team. If he continues winning races in this fashion, he will certainly
become a major threat for some of the top runners in major competitions.
However, Maxios should not get carried away with an impressive start to the season, as there are some tough races coming up in the future. Last year, he had a positive start, but failed to deliver solid results with consistency
afterwards.
On the other hand, Planteur also needs to raise his game and start improving his strike rate. Although this year has been a decent one for him, he has only managed to succeed once, which is not what his team would want.
Nicholas de Watrigant, who was representing the owner of the runner up horse, said, “It's a shame because he pulled hard early on but, he had a good position in second. Perhaps he could have gone a bit earlier because he has a
long acceleration.”
Planteur has taken part in a total of 21 races, winning six of them whereas finished as a runner up on the same number of times. In addition to that, he has also secured the third spot on a couple of times, which clearly shows
that he has the ability to be competitive.
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