‘Aussie Tom’ Marquand will ride the Francis-Henri Graffard trained Gezora in Sunday’s prestigious £4.1 million Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Recognised as one of the top riders in the world, Marquand was given his nickname by his Australian fan base after riding stints in Sydney where he excelled at Group 1 level, most notably aboard the William Haggas trained Addeybb, who completed the Ranvet and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes Group 1 double in 2020 (beating subsequent Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant on both occasions), before making it back-to-back wins in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes a year late.
Fresh from his triumph on the Aidan O’Brien trained outsider Scandinavia in the St Leger at Doncaster on September 13, Marquand’s Arc mount is one of three runners representing the Grafford stable.
Gezora won the Prix de Diane (the French Oaks) two runs back and then finished second to Aventura in the Prix Vermeille, both races coming against her own sex.
Christophe Soumillon was the winning rider in the Prix de Diane and Mickael Barzalona did the riding honours on Gezora in her last start. Soumillon, who is now committed to riding for Aidan O’Brien in the absence of the injured Ryan Moore, moves to take the reins of the Arc favourite Minnie Hauk for O’Brien, while Barzalona will be on Daryz, another Grafford stable contender, leaving the way clear for Marquand to claim the ride on Gezora.
“When she won the Prix de Diane, she automatically was given a berth in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, so we started to work towards that. She had a three-week spell and then made her comeback in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Vermeille,” Grafford told At The Races.
“I was really happy with her run in the Prix Vermeille. She wasn’t a hundred percent fit yet and that race wasn’t really her target. We knew that Aventure (who is the second favourite for the Arc) would be difficult to beat that day and I really wanted her to make a good comeback that would set her up for the Arc. And that is what she did.
“She has already improved since. The trip of the Arc is no issue, she can handle the ground and she obviously has a huge advantage with the weights. She is an easy filly to ride and she will give it her all.
“She is in very good shape.”
