Romanised pictured with trainer Ken Condon (left) and Billy Lee after winning the Minstrel Stakes© Photo Healy Racing
Connections of Romanised have lost their appeal against the result of the Prix du Moulin at ParisLongchamp earlier this month.
Having doubled his Group One tally in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August, last year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas hero was a marginal favourite on his return to France — but Ken Condon’s stable star was beaten a nose by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Circus Maximus.
The winner did drift left into the runner-up in the closing stages, prompting an inquiry, but it did not take the ParisLongchamp stewards long to decide the placings should remain unaltered.
After consulting Romanised’s owner Robert Ng, Condon soon confirmed their intention to appeal against the decision- and that was heard at France Galop’s headquarters in Paris on Thursday morning.
However, it was ultimately unsuccessful.
Rupert Pritchard-Gordon, racing manager for Ng, told the PA News Agency: “It’s a disappointing result, of course. I was in the hearing and I got the feeling it was a very close call.
“If you don’t get the decision on the day, you’re always at a disadvantage. I felt we had a good case, but I know it was a difficult decision for the stewards — and they have to be 100 per cent sure.
“We had a very fair hearing. We are disappointed — but as long as the horse is well and can continue in the same form he has been this season, hopefully he can continue to be competitive.”
Condon suggested in the immediate aftermath of his narrow defeat at ParisLongchamp that Romanised may be given the rest of the year off, but connections are not yet ruling out a trip to the Breeders’ Cup.
“The Breeders’ Cup Mile is an option, purely because Ken tells me the horse has never been as well as he is now,” added Pritchard-Gordon.
“He came out of the Moulin better than he’s come out of any race, ironically.
“He has been on the go all year, and horses can tail off quickly at this time of the season, so we have got to be careful.
“We’ll be guided by the horse, so we’ll see how he is when we’re nearer to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Having travelled to France for the hearing, Circus Maximus’ jockey Ryan Moore returned to Britain to ride at Yarmouth.
He is pleased the panel made what he believes was the correct decision.
Moore told Sky Sports Racing: “I felt he was the winner on merit on the day, and I’m glad the stewards have come to that conclusion.
“He’s a horse that’s progressed through the year. There were five other Group One winners in the Moulin — six including him — and you have to give him a bit of credit now.
“He’s won a St James’s Palace and was second in a Sussex, and he’s won a Moulin. For a horse to do that, he’s a high-quality colt — and I don’t think he’s done with either.”
A France Galop statement confirmed the outcome of the hearing.
It read: “The appeal was heard in a fair-play atmosphere.
“However, France Galop’s stewards, after showing all the views of the incident and hearing both parties make their point in details, having considered the way both horses had progressed, their behaviour in the latter stages of the race, compared their movements and interactions, and the consequences thereof, decided that the result should be allowed to stand, since there was not sufficient evidence that Romanised would have beaten Circus Maximus if there had been no interference at all.”
