3 minute read
Prix Saint Alary: Fit for a Queen?
Between the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (1600m) (French 1000 Guineas) and G1 Prix de Diane (2100m) in mid-June, there is another Group One race for three-year-old fillies, the Prix Saint Alary run over 2000m. Queen Trezy is a filly to remember when making your selections even if she's not from a top-ten trainers' yard.
Fabre, Appleby, Rouget, O'Brien…are some of the big-name trainers with runners in the 2022 Prix Saint Alary. Among the nominated runners includes a filly from the father and son training partnership of Carlos and Yann Lerner. Father Carlos has won three Group 1 races including the Classic Prix du Jockey Club with Anabaa Blue in 2001 and in recent times stayer Mille et Mille. Now they seek their next champion and are counting on Queen Trezy, a good young student who now wants to be crowned prom queen in the Prix Saint Alary at Paris-Longchamp.
The story started at Deauville in 2020 where the Covid-19 pandemic had changed the way sales are organised. Yearlings' sales are now Selection sales. With masks on, Carlos and Yann Lerner attended looking at lot 79 - a filly by Almanzor from Elodie who had produced a black-type performer, also a filly. This is a maternal bloodline of great champions : Call the Wind, With You, We Are…
"Queen Trézy is a filly that we bought at the Deauville sales, explained Yann Lerner. She was a very pretty filly but still very light and who needed time to grow up. We gave her what she needed – time!". They bid 125 000€…so time is definitely money.
"From the start, she showed a lot of quality. She is a filly that has always been consistent, she has climbed the various stages one per year". And what a start. She made her debut in the very coveted Prix des Marettes at Deauville and finished third. She broke her maiden at Lyon-Parilly tackling an easier race in September and ended her first season runner up, in the Prix des Réservoirs (Gr3) at Deauville on soft going, a race won by Rosacea (who has since found success in another Group 3) and was fourth in the Poule d'Essai French Guineas two weeks ago.
"She made a good comeback behind Agave in Prix Pénélope (Gr3) at the beginning of April. We gave her time to arrive with a lot of freshness in this Group 1".
Do you remember who was the runner up in the 2021 Prix Penelope? It was Incarville and what did she do after that? She won the Prix Saint Alary. This is a good omen for Queen Trézy.
"She is in very good shape. We hope she will be able to make us happy once again. She looks in perfect condition."