In a very rare all-French group 1, there is no danger that that the eight-runner Prix du Moulin de Longchamp will be run at a typical crawl, with the highest-rated horse also one that likes to dominate from the front.
Big Rock only knows one way of running and it is not one which very many of his pursuers have enjoyed attempting to follow through the course of a fruitful season. Only Ace Impact managed to get past him in the Prix du Jockey Club (G1) over a 1 mile 2 1/2 furlong trip which found him out, while on his return to a mile in the Prix Jacques le Marois (G1), another horse with a searing turn of foot in Inspiral sped past. The rest of his rivals were left strung out across Normandy.
“He’s gone very well since the Marois and we knew we could train him for this because each time he comes out of a race showing no signs that he’s had a run,” trainer Christopher Head said. “It’s pretty impressive that he can run the way he does each time, putting a strong pace to the race, and it’s a little unfair that he hasn’t yet won his group 1. He’s a unique horse with a huge cardio-vascular capacity and very resilient. It will be interesting to see him against Facteur Cheval. Virtually the only times our good 3-year-olds have been beaten this season has been against older horses, so you have to be conscious of the opposition.”
The question for Aurelien Lemaitre, who is an excellent judge of pace, is how hard to turn the screw early on around the Longchamp turn.
Up the Deauville straight mile, Big Rock clicked off metronomic furlongs of :11.47, :11.44, :11.44, and :11.77 from the five to the one pole, and still ran the fourth-fastest split from there to the line.
That was on soft ground and the question for Lemaitre and trainer Christopher Head is whether, with the potential for Sauterne to also race prominently, they try and put everyone in the red zone before the home straight, or whether the turning nature of Longchamp will give Big Rock more of a chance to save a bit for the finish.
Against inferior opposition in the Prix La Force (G3) over 1 mile 1 furlong at the track in April and on good ground, he was able to go slower until the exit from the false straight, before producing a proper turn of foot—a far-from-shabby :10.77 and :11.23 for the last two furlongs.
Head and Lemaitre will not underestimate the challenge of some of the older brigade, with Facteur Cheval arriving here fresh from giving Paddington plenty to think about in the Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood.
He will aim to come late, as will Erevann , whose season was interrupted when missing his intended prep for the Marois, having knocked himself on the eve of the Prix Messidor (G3).
“It wasn’t ideal that he missed his prep for the Marois but he is in very good form and hopefully will be there at the finish,” said George Rimaud, racing manager to owner of Erevann the Aga Khan. “Erevann is a good horse and Jean-Claude Rouget reports that his work has been good.”
