Allez Alam, get set for more fireworks
Grand Prix de Paris is on July 14, the same day as France v Spain in World Cup semis
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The Mikel Delzangles-trained Alam (Antoine Hamelin) recording an easy win in the Group 3 Prix Greffulhe (2,100m) at Saint-Cloud on May 5.
PHOTO: SCOOPDYGA
Michael Lee
The French may not hold the aces to the €600,000 (S$885,000) Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris (2,400m) at ParisLongchamp next week, but that is one race they would still be loath to lose in 2026.
Not only has the time-honoured classic not been whisked away to other shores since Hurricane Lane won for England, Godolphin and Charlie Appleby in 2021, but this particular 2026 renewal would also carry even greater symbolism.
Held on July 14, France’s national day, it could not be a more fitting occasion to proudly hear La Marseillaise ring out around the Parisian racecourse that day.
By a happy coincidence, that patriotic fervour may even reach fever pitch with the French football team playing Spain in the World Cup semi-finals over in Dallas on the same day, albeit a few hours later because of the different US time zone.
Before Les Bleus walk onto the AT&T Stadium on Bastille Day, horse racing’s Team Blue, White and Red may have a tough challenge on their hands – to score at home in one of their most prestigious races.
The purple patch struck by Onesto (2022), Feed The Flame (2023), Sosie (2024) and Leffard (2025) in the Grand Prix de Paris is coming under the threat of a serious foreign onslaught from across the Channel.
On credentials, William Haggas’ Epsom Derby runner-up Maltese Cross and Ballydoyle’s five-from-six Causeway are the two top fancies to add their names to the honour roll of the 163-year-old race.
However, the home team will not take that superiority from their cross-border cousins as anything but a fait accompli.
Leading the Gallic fighting spirit is invariably the all-conquering duo of Aga Khan Studs and trainer Francis-Henri Graffard’s three-from-three winner Varandir, most notably off the back of his last-start Group 3 Prix Hocquart over the same course and distance on May 24.
Another Chantilly trainer not shirking the task is Mikel Delzangles, who will forever be remembered for winning the Melbourne Cup with Dunaden in 2011.
A winner of close to 700 races – including 12 at Group 1 level – Delzangles may not be heading in with another Dunaden, but he is not selling Alam short either.
Whilst the Zelzal colt has only one win to his name, the Group 3 Prix Greffulhe (2,100m) at Saint-Cloud on May 5, his trainer is pleased with the timely build-up.
The yardstick among his five races ironically came in defeat – at his last start, when fifth to Constitution River in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (2,400m) or French Derby on May 31.
“It was a very good performance in the Jockey Club, considering it was a very strong Jockey Club this year,” said Delzangles.
“He had a bad draw (barrier No. 16) but he ran on very well. He didn’t have the gate speed to go forward to a good position, so we decided to ride him quiet and he finished off very well.
“It’s not easy to go from the Jockey Club to the Grand Prix of Paris with only one month and a half in between races.
“We didn’t go into the Jockey Club as a prep race to the Grand Prix de Paris. But the horse is well and everything’s gone well between the two races.
“There’s no reason why he can’t put up a good performance.”
Ridden thus far by former Hong Kong-based jockey Antoine Hamelin, Alam will be partnered by comeback champion jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot for the first time.
