Caballo de Mar Upsets Scandinavia to Repeat in Cadran

It was supposed to be a far more formidable task for Caballo de Mar (IRE) this time with Scandinavia in attendance, and that much certainly proved to be the case as the stewards had to have the final say after a late bump as they went toe-to-toe in an absorbing duel down the ParisLongchamp Racecourse straight. The Oct. 3 result, though, was the same as it was 12 months ago. A Prix du Cadran (G1) victory for Caballo de Mar. George Scott's brave staying stalwart lost his way in the middle of the season, having also won the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier (G1) here in May. However, Scott got him back on track with victory in last month's Doncaster Cup Stakes (G2) and was upbeat that they might have Scandinavia's measure this time. Oisin Murphy was pivotal here in crowning the day on Caballo de Mar for Scott. He tracked Ryan Moore's every move on Scandinavia and went at them from a furlong down. The Ballydoyle star had not been beaten in eight starts since July of last year, and he never gave in, but he was a short neck shy at the wire. Caballo de Mar did bounce off him in the shadow of the post, but Moore never stopped riding despite hitting the inside running rail, and it was possibly too close to home to have impacted the result. While Moore lodged an objection and it made for a tense wait, the result stood. As a consequence, Caballo de Mar became the first horse since Westerner in 2004 to secure successive Cadrans. "What an amazing racehorse," Scott said. "I'm very emotional as he is such a special horse for us. To come and win the Cadran again is great. … It's been an amazing day." "He ran well, but he's had a long season," trainer Aidan O'Brien said of the runner-up. "The ground rode a little bit on the slower side, and that'll be it for him now." Fairy Glen Takes Prix de Royallieu Christophe Soumillon looked to have timed it perfectly on the 5-6 favorite Sunly (GB), coming up the center of the track with a late challenge. But Mickael Barzalona, on the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained 17-2 chance Fairy Glen (FR), followed her through and came over the top of her to win the Prix de Royallieu (G1) Saturday at ParisLongchamp. Ed Crisford said: "They went slow early and I thought she might be a bit far back, but they got racing quite far out and she traveled into it super. Mickael knows her super from Dubai and rode a beautiful race on her and she finished super well. She's a very good filly. "She's won over shorter in Dubai and has a really good turn of foot. … Her run at Yarmouth a couple of weeks ago set her up for this and she was really game. Now she's a group 1 winner which is fantastic. "She'll be retired at the end of this season for sure, we'll have to speak to her owner and make a plan. She's entered at Ascot, but there are other races so we'll take her home, see how she is and go from there."