By Duane Fonseca
Patrice Cottier’s Sauterne turned in a classy display under Tony Piccone to land the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp for a first top-tier win on her fourth attempt.
The 3yo Kingman filly had been placed in all previous Group One affairs and was most recently a half length back in third behind Mqse De Sevigne in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville in July. And Piccone was not going to settle for the lesser podium spots Sunday as he saved her for a late challenge.
Christopher Head’s Big Rock gained the lead after the break and brought the field of eight into the straight, a length keeping him and jockey Aurelien Lemaitre ahead of the chasing pack. Sauterne had travelled well all along and knowing she had loads left to burn, Piccone refrained from riding her hard until a little over a furlong remained.
Once he pushed the button, Sauterne flew past Big Rock in a matter of strides to go on and win by a length. Facteur Cheval was a further half length behind in third for trainer Jerome Reynier and Mickael Barzalona.
Elsewhere on the card a quartet of Group Three events played out, the first of which the Prix la Rochette for 2yos was won by Yann Barberot’s Maxime Guyon piloted Beauvatier. Patrice Cottier’s Horizon Dore won the Prix du Prince d’Orange under Cristian Demuro, while Jean-Marie Beguigne trained Lastotchka claimed the Prix Gladiateur under Theo Bachelot. Naranco won Spanish handler G Arizkorreta Elosegui the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte with Vaclav Janacek in the saddle.
