Earthlight back on track at Longchamp Earthlight bounced back from his first career defeat with an assured display in the Qatar Prix du Pin at ParisLongchamp. Andre Fabre’s colt was one of the star juveniles in Europe last season — winning each of his five starts, including Group One triumphs in the Prix Morny at Deauville and the Middle Park at Newmarket. The coronavirus pandemic, followed by a minor setback, delayed his three-year-old debut — but he appeared as good as ever when dominating his rivals in a Listed race on his Deauville return. The son of Shamardal lost his unbeaten record when a close-up fourth in last month’s Prix Maurice de Gheest, however, and faced a step up to seven furlongs for the first time in this Group Three contest. Supporters of the 8-13 favourite will have had few concerns, with Earthlight travelling powerfully before moving stylishly to the lead under Mickael Barzalona and he was well on top at the finish. The winner’s stablemate Tropbeau finished to good effect to provide Fabre with a one-two. Godolphin representative Lisa-Jane Graffard told Sky Sports Racing: “He showed what we were hoping to see and also what we knew he was capable of. “He’s such a lovely horse with a great attitude. Mickael said he didn’t have the best trip — he was wide the whole way, but he said he was brave and will come on again for that race. “He was having a good blow afterwards. He’s quite a heavy horse who needs plenty of work and plenty of racing, so that will do him good. “Andre is confident he could stay a mile, but options are running out at this time of year, so I would imagine the Prix de la Foret would be one of the main races that comes into consideration. “If Andre has another idea, we’ll have a think about it, but that is the race we’re thinking about at the moment.”
