Greenland smashes into Classic contention with strirring Prix Greffulhe win
- Planet Sport writer
- 1 May 2023
Trainer Aidan O'Brien has enjoyed a stellar day as his Classic outlook brightened further with a massive win for Greenland.
Aidan O'Brien won the Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud for the first time as Greenland pulled out all the stops to earn a possible crack at the French Derby.
Ridden by Christophe Soumillon, the 6-5 favourite was always close to the pace set by Harry Way, and the duo became embroiled in a titanic tussle up the home straight, with nothing to separate the pair until the winning post - where the judge delivered a nose verdict in the Irish raider's favour.
Owners Coolmore won the race with the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi on the way to Derby success in 2011, but whereas Pour Moi's finest hour came at Epsom, Greenland could be heading to Chantilly on June 4 with O'Brien favouring the Prix du Jockey Club for his son of Saxon Warrior.
He said: "Christophe was very happy with him. He said he got there and waited a little bit.
"He said he'd like better ground and that he felt like a horse with plenty of class and he thought that he was a French Derby horse."
Elsewhere on the card, Fabre's Tribalist enhanced his reputation with an all-the-way success in the Prix du Muguet.
The Godolphin-owned colt had downed The Revenant when making all over the same course and distance on reappearance and put further daylight between himself and Francis-Henri Graffard's 2020 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner this time as he followed up under a fine front-running ride from Mickael Barzalona.
It was Fabre's 10th win in the Group Three contest and his latest winner holds an entry for Newbury's Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes on May 20.
