Prix de Diane 2011 Chantilly – Jockey Maxine Guyon rides Golden Lilac to victory, Andre Fabre wins again
Even money favourite, Galikova, was defeated by Golden Lilac, who came from behind to win the French Grade One Prix de Diane, and, help trainer, Andre Fabre, bag another win.
Chantilly has also come good for jockey Maxime Guyon.
On 12 June 2011, Guyon and Fabre single handedly won four group stakes at Chantilly. Golden Lilac the daughter of Galileo added to her wins by capturing the second classic victory of her career.
To add more to her success, she hasn’t been beaten in five starts, which is an extraordinary performance and delighted owner Dietrich von Boetticher. For him it’s a dream to own a filly this good and her mother was a good runner too, winning the Grade One
but couldn’t pull off a Diane like her daughter.
At the start of the race, Polemique broke out strong and she breezed past everyone to attain the lead but an entry along with Polemique, was Galikova, who briskly came head-to-head, with Polemique but Galikova couldn’t keep up with the brisk tempo maintained
by Polemique.
Shortly all the fillies seemed content with Polemique in the lead and it looked as if it was going to stay that way for the rest of the race.
At that point all the fillies were getting into rhythm by holding strong to their respective positions. Galikova by that time slid back to fifth, right behind Golden Lilac, who was firmly guided by Guyon and settled in nicely next to the rail.
Four lengths behind the leader was long shot Haya Landa, and she did look to pick it up a notch and make a race out of it, but she was chased by Glorious Sight, who was placed at third.
Polemique could not maintain her brisk tempo for long and started to slow down as the race progressed. Guyon saw an opening down the rail and pushed Golden Lilac to seize the opportunity and skipped past Glorious Sight.
Golden Lilac moved swiftly to gain the initiative and also at the right time, she tackled Glorious Sight and just when Galikova was beginning to look dangerous and cross the wire, Golden Lilac guided by Guyon both brought their A-game and peaked at the right
time to cross the wire first.
Goldikova’s half sister, Galikova, competed in the race and was expected to win it. Her trainer was not impressed with the performance, claiming that she stayed in the game, but each time she showed promise she was outpaced.
Haya Landa, the long shot ran a good race to finish fourth and the Investec Derby combination of Mickael Barzalona and Fabre, who did it with Pour Moi, finished sixth this time with Wavering.
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