Baron Samedi Seeks Group 1 in Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Michael B. Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith s Group 1-winner Sovereign will make his first start in North America against a competitive field which includes four other graded/grouped stakes winners in Saturday s 63rd running of the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o War going 1 3/8 miles over the inner turf for older horses at Belmont Park.
The Man o War, NYRA s first Grade 1 turf stakes of the year, honors Samuel D. Riddle s all-time great, who was voted by multiple publications as the greatest racehorse of the 20th century. The champion s notable accomplishments include victories in the Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1920. Perhaps the crowning moment of his career took place when defeating 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in a match race at the now defunct Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario. A winner of 20 of his 21 lifetime starts, Man o War s lone defeat took place in the 1919 Sanford, which he lost to the ironically
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On top of the world: Christophe Lemaire meets the press after Almond Eyeâs 2019 victory in the $6 million Dubai Turf. Photo: Michele MacDonald
A thick layer of sugary icing was spread on the cake this week in one of racing’s great revival stories. Christophe Lemaire, the one-time leading rider in France who left his home country six years ago because his supply of mounts had dried up, is now the #1 jockey in the world.
He’s joint #1 actually - alongside Frankie Dettori - but there’s every chance the 41-year-old Frenchman will have the top spot to himself in the coming weeks as his adopted homeland, Japan, features a programme of Graded races over the next two months (Group and Graded races are what count in the