Melbourne Cup winning trainer Mikel Delzangles is keeping his fingers crossed the decision to bypass the Derby at Epsom in favour of the French equivalent pays off with unbeaten colt Kesampour.
The son of King’s Best won comfortably on his two appearances at Saint-Cloud as a juvenile and made a winning return in Listed company at the same track at the beginning of April.
Delzangles decided against the cross-Channel journey and Kesampour will face 19 opponents in Sunday’s Prix du Jockey Club over 10 and a half furlongs (2100m) at Chantilly.
“He is in very good form and we decided to be prudent and stay at home rather than going for Epsom,” Delzangles said.
“There is some rain forecast but he handles softer ground well and even if it ends up being faster ground, I think he should be fine.
“He is drawn in stall five, which I am very pleased with. It is very important not to be drawn too wide at Chantilly, so I’m happy.”
Kesampour is one of two runners in the French Classic for the Aga Khan, the other being the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained Lunayir.
With retained French rider Christophe Lemaire unsurprisingly siding with Kesampour, Johnny Murtagh, the owner’s retained rider in Britain and Ireland, comes in for the ride on Lunayir.
De Royer-Dupre has saddled six previous winners of the French Derby and is also a Melbourne Cup winning trainer.
“Everything is OK with the horse. It is a big step up in class for him, but the horse looks well and I am very happy with him.
The Group One contest has been dominated by French-trained runners with Saeed bin Suroor’s Shamardal the last British raider to triumph back in 2005.
