Santorini Star aiming to rise to Prix Vicomtesse Vigier challenge Connections of Santorini Star are now reaping the rewards of her careful introduction to the racecourse as she targets her maiden Group One triumph in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at ParisLongchamp on Thursday. The Golden Horn mare, owned by Brighton & Hove Albion chief Tony Bloom alongside Ian McAleavy, did not make her debut until the autumn of her three-year-old season. An all-weather campaign over that winter helped her progress through the ranks last term, which culminated in Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes success at the St Leger meeting and a runner-up finish in the Prix de Royallieu on Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend. On her reappearance, Santorini Star landed the Jockey Club Stakes in impressive style and the William Haggas-trained five-year-old heads across the English Channel with high hopes. “She’s been in good form since the Jockey Club Stakes,” Bloom’s racing manager Sean Graham said. “We thought the run at Newmarket, whatever she did that day, she will definitely improve for it like most of William’s horses. They all improve a bit from the first run. “She’s now won two Group Twos and she was second in a Group One on Arc weekend, so really we are trying to tick the box of winning a Group One with her. The race at Newmarket proved she’s not short of speed, she’s got plenty of boot as well.” He went on: “There is no such thing as an easy Group One so you will always take on classy horses. Getting that Group One early in the season takes the pressure off for the rest of the year then and we can have a pop at a few other big prizes. “She didn’t run until the October of her three-year-old career and that was because William just decided that his filly needs plenty of time, and in fairness to Tony and Ian, they have bundles of patience and gave the filly all the time she’s needed and we are reaping the rewards now. “If we tried to run her earlier or even earlier in her three-year-old career, the horse could have folded completely. So I think giving her time and letting her mature we are getting the benefits now.” Caballo De Mar has the Gold Cup on his agenda at Royal Ascot, but trainer George Scott revealed his star five-year-old had trained himself into the extended mile-and-seven-furlong renewal following his excellent second in the Sagaro Stakes, where he was beaten just a short head giving the winner 2lb. “He wanted to get back racing,” Scott said. “He’s so fresh and it’s a very valuable race and he’s a track winner. He’s in great shape and we thought it would be a great prep, as good a prep as anything into Ascot. “Ascot is a really exciting race for him with the additional half-mile. He stays so well and this race looks a really good spot for him. “He ran great at Ascot giving a little bit of weight away and he got beat fair and square by the filly (Fairy Glen, who reopposes) in Dubai. She was pretty acclimatised and had had a run, but they meet on more fair terms.” There is more British interest through Sir Mark Prescott’s Prix de Royallieu winner Consent and the aforementioned Dubai Gold Cup victor Fairy Glen, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, while Joseph O’Brien’s Irish raider Al Riffa also takes his chance. Francis-Henri Graffard runs Asmarani, Arrow Eagle goes for Jean-Claude Rouget, with Tim Donworth’s Rashford and the Christophe Ferland-trained Double Major completing the list. Of the latter, Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager for the Wertheimer brothers, said: “Double Major is doing fine, he will love the softer ground and Longchamp again. As usual he should run close to the pace or not too far off at least, as he likes that. But Asmarani has been better than him so far.”
