Jamie Lynch’s runner guide: Qatar Prix du Jockey Club | Racing News

It may be short of a star but the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (3.05) of 2025 – live on Sky Sports Racing on Sunday – certainly fills its brief as the finest of filters for pouring in the Classic concoction of bluebloods of differing styles, standards and stages.

Five are coming on from the Poulains, six arrive via recognised trials in France, and there are two left-field supplementary entries.

It’s worth emphasising at the top that the draw can be critical in big fields over this course and distance, with a sharp reminder last year when the first four home were the four lowest drawn. With all of that in mind, let’s take an in-depth look at the 18-runner field…

1. Azimpour (16)

Jockey: Clement Lecoeuvre | Trainer: Francis-Henri Graffard

Azimpour is out off a half-sister to Azamour – a Classic Aga Khan family – so we know he will get better with time and distance. His groundwork so far backs that up, given he was pipped by Cualificar in the nine-furlong Prix La Force, though his flattening fourth (behind Nitoi) in the Prix Du Suresnes did put some sort of cap on expectations for a race as big as this at his stage. Stall 16 is far from ideal so it’s a bit of a no-brainer for Mickael Barzalona to side with Ridari.

2. Ridari (11)

Mickael Barzalona | Mikel Delzangles

A faster final furlong than the trio who finished ahead of him fostered the ‘what if’ factor in the Poulains, especially as he ran into traffic not once but twice in the straight. Nonetheless, he beat the four re-opposers from the Prix de Fontainebleau all the more convincingly and added to his rapid record of development.

There’s a chance that this new trip accentuates his improvement, remembering that Churchill has already sired a Prix du Jockey Club winner (Vadeni), while Ridari’s dam won the Prix de l’Opera. A double-figure draw is wider than connections would like, but he has the perfect profile for the race.

3. King Of Cities (10)

James Doyle | Richard Hannon

This horse is a strong supplementary entry, emboldened by the way the Feilden form is working out, shooting clear with Almeric (in a fast time) at Newmarket, with two next-time winners in their jetwash along with eye-catching Dante fifth Nightwalker.

Rather than his half-brother Inisherin, he takes much more after his Prix Jean Romanet-winning dam, Ajman Princess. As such, he’s set to shine for the extra furlong of the Prix du Jockey Club, but even now he’s officially rated only 3lb behind Camille Pissarro. It’s no wonder they paid to get him into the race.

4. Al Aali (7)

Antony Crastus | Lucie Pontoir

A market maverick, the bigger the starting price, the bigger his performance! He came home very well for second (at 33/1) in the Prix de Guiche, splitting Cualificar and Curragh Camp. He clearly wears the underdog hat well, but this is an altogether loftier level.

5. Leffard (15)

Jean-Bernard Eyquem | Jean-Claude Rouget

First things first, he’s not Ace Impact, not by a long chalk! There are parallels beyond the Jean-Claude Rouget regime however, winning the same Cagnes-sur-Mer maiden on debut (in January) and coming within a short-neck of following suit in the Prix de Suresnes, giving Nitoi a scare.

He’s still looking up, but his chances are looking down after drawing gate 15.

6. Cualificar (12)

William Buick | Andre Fabre

You’d never have thought he’d get to where he has following successive defeats last back-end, but with each race he has grown in power, purpose and professionalism. Therefore, he has a faint whiff of Big Rock about him – for approach if not attack – having won the same two trials, the Prix La Force and Prix de Guiche.

For context, he’s around 10lb shy of where Big Rock was coming to Chantilly, but Cualificar’s career curve is propelled by the powerful privileges of who he’s with (the master trainer) and how he’s bred, by a Prix du Jockey Club winner out of an Epsom Oaks winner.

7. Detain (6)

Christophe Soumillon | John and Thady Gosden

In five races, his only defeats have come the twice he’s been in at the deep end in Group 1s, finishing sixth in the Poulains, but from 14th in the false straight, a long way back even in a strongly-run race. It’s notable that he ran the fastest final 600m of all 16 runners, a smidgen over 33 seconds.

From sharp speed as a two-year-old, he’s now starting to show some of the DNA of his most illustrious half-brother, the St Leger runner-up Arrest, and the reason why it’s easy to see the move up in trip triggering another move up in form.

8. Heybetli (14)

Tony Piccone | Alicja Karkosa

This contender is exposed and established. He can make an impact in Group 3s but not Group 1s, as underlined in the Lagardere and Poulains (11th), and he’s unsure to stay this new distance, being by Showcasing. Also, stall 14 makes life especially tough.

9. Bowmark (8)

Tom Marquand | John and Thady Gosden

Tom Marquand’s mount is missing a few rungs of the ladder to contest this Classic, though his sky-high reputation saw him go off 6/4 for the Burradon (shaped best in second). He duly looked a class act back in a mere novice at York at 1/3 last time, coasting in but in a time that still compared well against the Listed fillies earlier on the card.

There’s a lot of Kingman in him, but he’s from a Classic Coolmore middle-distance family, a pointer to his potential for this different distance. Bowmark is the fizz in a field full of slower-maturing ports.

10. Curragh Camp (5)

Stephane Pasquier | Francis-Henri Graffard

There’s a pattern of progress that is set to continue for a while yet, given his lingering greenness when third (behind Cualificar and Al Aali) in the Prix de Guiche, but it rather begs the question if he couldn’t win that how is he going to win this? He will, at least, benefit from the longer trip, naming useful hurdler Under Control among his relations, and Curragh Camp has drawn well.

11. Luther (13)

Kieran Shoemark | Charlie Fellowes

He outran his odds (46/1 on pari-mutuel) when fourth in the Poulains, without a hint of a fluke about it. He was nearer the heat of the race than a few of the faster finishers who drew they eye more by the end, including Detain, who had beaten Luther at Chelmsford when both made their reappearance.

There’s plenty in his pedigree to say that he’ll relish let alone stay 10 furlongs, given he’s by Frankel and from the family of Fame And Glory, but as a package he lacks the scope of some in here, and gate 13 adds difficulty.

12. Trinity College (3)

Wayne Lordan | Aidan P O’Brien

A horse who is short on scope by now, seven races in, and he’s constantly come up short in stakes races – the latest the Blue Riband Trial in which he was beaten just a head despite looking all at sea on Epsom’s camber. It’s hard to see him impacting in a Classic.

13. Parachutiste (17)

Oisin Murphy | Francis-Henri Graffard

This runner is an unknown quantity having kept it low-key, making just the three appearances but winning two, including the Prix de Ferrieres in April. He’s got exactly the same profile as Sosie ahead of his third in the Prix du Jockey Club last year. Parachutiste is a Francis-Henri Graffard production that dismissed an Andre Fabre horse on the same trajectory (Zekret).

That rival wasn’t beaten far in last week’s Prix Hocquart, and what’s more both wins have only seemed to scratch the surface of Parachutiste, who probably has another gear to go to. One word of warning is that Graffard said he sees him more as a mile-and-a-half horse, which may add to his woes from stall 17.

14. Tipinso (9)

Cristian Demuro | Jean-Claude Rouget

Tipinso hurried to a hat-trick as his played up his progress but has hit a ceiling since, and it’s nowhere near the required level. He was beaten by the other penalised runner in a Listed race last time and this will be beyond his means for standard or stamina or both.

15. Camille Pissarro (1)

Ryan Moore | Aidan P O’Brien

This Ballydoyle representative has shown several different faces – not all of them good – as a two-year-old but ended on an uncalculated high in the Lagardere when all eyes were on Henri Matisse (and Ryan Moore). He has trained on well, if having to settle for third behind the same team-mate in the French Guineas, but he ran the faster last 600m and recorded the highest top speed (of 42.8mph) of any horse in the field.

An entry is the Commonwealth Cup betrays that they weren’t sure which direction he’d be heading this year, his finish at Longchamp obliging a try at this trip, but Wootton Bassett never went this far, and Camille Pissarro has more speed than stamina on the dam’s side, too. He’s the most accomplished horse in the line-up and has struck luckiest with the draw.

16. Nitoi (18)

Alexis Pouchin | Andre Fabre

This runner is cut from the same cloth as his Group 1-winning half-brother Junko, failing where that one succeeded in the Prix Noailles (done for a bit of toe by Uther) but course correcting by plugging more into his strong-galloping style when seeing off Leffard over this course and distance in the Listed Prix de Suresnes.

Nitoi is tracking to make into a Group 1 horse but he’s more of a grinder than a glider which can be compromising at Chantilly, compounded by the size and shape of this field, as well as his brutal draw, widest in stall 18.

17. Sinileo (4)

Maxime Guyon | Andre Fabre

Now then, what have we got here? Reliable Man in 2011 and Look De Vega last year were Prix du Jockey Club exceptions in winning it with just two races behind them, but it’s almost unheard of for a horse to be asked the question only a fortnight after his debut. Yes, Sinileo passed the eye test and then some in a mile maiden at Chantilly, never looking flat out at any stage, but the time was nothing special (significantly slower than the other races at the trip that day), and yet Andre Fabre has sensed or seen something to supplement him, fostered by the fact Guyon has chosen him over Nitoi.

Fabre trained one of his half-siblings, Solsticia, to finish third in a Group 1 (Prix Saint-Alary) on only her third start, that one by Le Havre, and it’s clear from his debut that Sinileo is blessed with more boot, from Siyouni. There are mystery boxes, and then there’s Sinileo.

18. Frankly Good Cen (2)

Augustin Madamet | Victoria Head

This lad had Parachutiste behind when making a winning debut at Deauville in December and produced another promising performance when a close second in a conditions race at Compiegne last week. That said, this is a world away – too much too soon.

Jamie Lynch’s verdict

Going into it, the bar isn’t so high as it often is for a Prix du Jockey Club, which may be part of the reason Andre Fabre is throwing in Sinileo, with a feeling that upgraders have a chance this year, and that’s my theory with BOWMARK, who is beginning to look a serious horse after what he did in a fast time without fuss at York, suggesting he’s ready and able for this stiffer test.

Watch the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly live on Sky Sports Racing on Sunday 1st June.