It is a 40-minute train ride from Gare Du Nord, a Paris train station.
From the station, it is a crisp 15-minute walk to Chantilly. On Prix du
Jockey Club day, the French Derby, there are musicians, both vocal and
instrumental, who keep the fans entertained. Fashion, high and not so
high, and pageantry come together.
Talk of poetic justice and I saw it in its most emphatic form in the
French Derby at Chantilly on Sunday. Darsi, in the hands of Christophe
Soumillon who was turning 25, proved the fastest when it mattered. The
winning owner was the Aga Khan. Now, 24 hours earlier, in another
country called England and across the Channel, an Aga Khan-owned and
Soumillon-ridden chestnut colt named Visindar had failed to justify
favoritism in the Epsom Derby. The one different element in the equation
was that Visindar’s trainer was Andre Fabre and Darsi’s trainer was
Royer Dupre.
At 7.60 to 1, Darsi lay no farther than sixth at any point in the
2,100-metre Prix du Jockey Club. Soumillon improved to be fourth around
the final bend and switched to the out as the race took a serious turn,
Arras, Olivier Peslier up, had made a striking move turning for home and
gone into what looked like an insurmountable lead. Soumillon put Darsi
in chase of Arras and, with one giant stride after another, cut down the
advantage and edged clear with 50 metres to go. Best Name, Christophe
Lemaire up, was late on the scene to edge Arras out for second.
Soumillon and the Aga Khan did not attend the press meeting. Soumillon
had a ride in the race following the Jockey Club. Trainer Dupre took
questions. I asked Dupre, if in retrospect, Darsi should have gone to
Epsom, “Absolutely not. He was targeted for the French Derby. He trained
well and he has justified my confidence.”
“I have no plans to take him to the Breeders’ Cup. The Churchill Downs
stretch is too short,” Dupre quipped.
It was a glorious summer afternoon in Paris. The racing was all a fan
could ask for. The Epsom Derby and the Jockey Club are 24 hours apart.
There is a convenient train (the Eurostar) that leaves London at 8 A M
and arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris at 11.50 A M. Paris is an hour
ahead.
