Reliable Man wins French Derby 2011, Jockey Gerald Mosse impresses
Reliable Man swept to victory in the Prix du Jockey Club (the French Derby) at Chantilly on June 5, 2011.
The French Derby was his sixth victory in the French Classic. A journey from maiden company to a Classic victory pleased his trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre.
The veteran jockey, Gerald Mosse, took control and steered Reliable Man past Blue Chic and guided himself in impressive style through the centre. It was impressive because Reliable Man was chasing Blue Chic’s tail for majority of the race and he left it
till the end to win in Chantilly.
It was not a two horse show because the favorite, Baraan, stole the show with his equally impressive run. In the beginning, Baraan was slow to get out of the gate and broke poorly but through the course he gained momentum and finished third while Blue Chic
finished 2nd for the 6th time in the Prix du Jockey Club (the French Derby).
It was a good win for Reliable Man and gave trainer Alan de Royer-Dupre his sixth win. It wasn’t until April that he made his debut and this time around it was his third start. So it was a satisfying performance by the 3-year old colt.
Bred in England by N.P. Bloodstock, the 3 year old colt Reliable Man will next target Grand Prix de Paris
Another horse at the Grad du Prix was John Gosden’s Columbian. A Chester maiden, who was running in his most important race, ran his heart out to accomplish a massive 4th place.
His rider William Buick said: "He ran a very good race, he's still learning, but he'd probably be better with a bit of cut".
But Baraan truly got the attention when he started off slow and lost the track in the beginning of the race but young jockey, Christophe Lemaire, rode his horse with skill and did not panic even after finding himself way behind the lot and he ran a remarkable
race to finish 3rd.
If Baraan had a clear break the outcome of the game would have been a lot different and the way he made his comeback he could have swept the race by ten furlongs.
It was fast and furious at the race, the pace in the beginning was so fast that the horses, who broke out well, Ryan Moore on Roderic, and, Frankie Dettori on Casamento, paid the price for pushing their horses too hard too early. They fell short on the long
distance track.
Tags: