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Siyouni colt adds third Group 1 to CV in Sunday’s Longchamp feature
Despite having landed a brace of Group 1s earlier in his career, Sottsass (4 c Siyouni - Starlet's Sister by Galileo) was not many people’s idea of the Prix De l’Arc De Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) winner, but he very much silenced his doubters when landing the Longchamp Group 1 on Sunday providing his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget with his first victory in the race.
In what was a messy running of the race, Cristian Demuro looked confident on board the son of Siyouni (Pivotal) and he gained the lead inside the final furlong, surging home to beat a fast-finishing In Swoop (Alderflug) by a neck. Persian King (Kingman) - who set the pace - finished another length and three-quarters away in third.
The stewards called an inquiry into the result after the runners passed the post, but the finishing positions remained unchanged.
Enable (Nathaniel) - who was aiming for an historic third victory in the race - travelled strongly throughout the contest, but her customary turn of foot was blunted by the sodden underfoot conditions and she could only manage a sixth place finish in Europe's most prestigious race.
"We've worked all year for this,” said Rouget. “Our entire aim for 2020 was this and it's not been easy with the changes to the calendar.
"We've never been able to do quite what we wanted with the horse. But these last few days I've really felt he was in top form."
No doubt stud’s will be circling for the right to stand Sottsass at stud and he adds this Group 1 to his record alongside his other victories in the Prix du Jockey Club (Gr 1, 2100m) and Prix Ganay (Gr 1, 2100m), while he also finished third behind Waldgeist (Galileo) and Enable in the 2019 edition of the Group 1.
Purchased by Oceanic Bloodstock for €340,000 at the 2017 Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale, the four-year-old is out of placed Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Starlet’s Sister, making him a half-brother to multiple Grade 1-winning champion Sistercharlie (Myboycharlie) and dual Group 3 scorer My Sister Nat (Acclamation).
Starlet’s Sister herself is a sister to Group 3 winner Leo’s Starlet, while she is a half-sister to Listed scorer Anabaa’s Creation (Anabaa) - the dam of Listed winner Create A Dream (Oasis Dream).
Further back this is the same family as Group 3 winner Sandy’s Charm (Footstepsinthesand) and Listed scorer Mary’s Precedent (Storming Home).
Siyouni - who is the sire of three further top-flight winners - stood at the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval stud in 2020 for a fee of €100,000 and his exploits as a stallion are advertised in Australia by Group 2 winner Aylmerton and the sire is currently at the head of the leading sires table in France by earnings.
Not to be for Enable… Sottsass wins the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe! #QPAT pic.twitter.com/vn4SD9HPMN
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 4, 2020
