ENGLISH VERSION
Rothschild trainer, had been to wait. Still, sensing that the filly was keen and eager to stride on, the man known as the“ Prince of Jockeys” instantly decided to let her go. Horse and rider raced together all the way to the winning post, holding off the strong but ultimately too-late challenge of the favourite Prodice, ridden by Saint-Martin’ s great English rival, Lester Piggott. The race-reading ability and exceptional intuition of the fifteen-time Cravache d’ Or winner are perfectly illustrated by this example.
1975: the year without a Prix de Diane In the spring of 1975, Ivanjica( Poule d’ Essai des Pouliches) and Nobiliary( Prix Saint- Alary) dominated the generation of three-year-old fillies. Yet neither would see her name entered in the Prix de Diane record books. For one simple reason: there was no Prix de Diane that year. Why? A strike by stable lads prevented the meeting from taking place and the races were never rescheduled. The Prix de Diane was cancelled. Such a thing had not happened since wartime: there had been no race in 1940, from 1915 to 1918, or in 1871 because of the Prussian occupation.“ In 1975, the Prix de Diane was cancelled. Nothing like it had been seen since the wars!”
Dunette and Doleuze’ s raised arm In 1979, eight years after Pistol Packer’ s narrow vic- tory over Cambrizzia, the Head family colours would not enjoy the same success against the American colours of Mrs Love. Winner of both the Poule d’ Essai des Pouliches and the Prix Saint-Alary, their representative Three Troikas started at the prohibitive odds of 1 / 10. She moved into the lead at the crucial moment and appeared certain to win, but Dunette launched a powerful finish on the outside. At the line, the two fillies were inseparable. Which one had won? Only the photo-finish could tell. Yet Georges Doleuze, aboard Dunette, believed he had prevailed, raising his arm in celebration as he crossed the line. Freddy Head, aboard Three Troikas, showed no reaction. Would he and his family experience the same happy outcome as with Pistol Packer? No. This time, their rival’ s nose proved the longer. Doleuze’ s gesture had been bold, but the enthusiastic jockey had not been mistaken. A year later, in the Grand Prix de Saint- Cloud, Dunette and Georges Doleuze would almost repeat the feat, dead-heating with Yves Saint-Martin and Shakapour. Doleuze again raised his arm, but had to settle for a dead heat.
Niarchos + Boutin Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and those who continued his racing legacy under the Niarchos Family banner enjoyed considerable success in the Prix de Diane. Their victories stretched from Northern
Trick in 1984 to Senga in 2017, with East of the Moon in 1994 and Divine Proportions in 2005 in between. In 1994, East of the Moon provided one of the final major triumphs for trainer François Boutin, who would pass away the following year and to whom the Niarchos colours owed much of their rise during the 1980s. East of the Moon’ s dam was none other than the ten-time Group 1 winner Miesque, queen of the mile, who seven years earlier had been defeated by Indian Skimmer in the Prix de Diane after finding the distance just a little beyond her optimum. Boussac, less successful than in the“ Derby” Marcel Boussac’ s colours were not as successful in the Prix de Diane as they were in the Prix du Jockey Club, where they accumulated twelve victories. Nevertheless, the great owner-breeder remains among the most successful figures in the championship of French fillies, with five victories spanning from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s. Those victories were achieved by Adargatis in 1934, Caravelle in 1943, Corteira in 1948, Apollonia in 1956 and Crepellana in 1969.
“ Jockey Club – Diane”: Seven Years of Reflection The Prix de Diane was created seven years after the Prix du Jockey Club, in 1843. It is the female counterpart to the latter, run at the same racecourse of Chantilly but over a distance 300 metres shorter. It was therefore contested over 2,100 metres
153 # 19