Telecaster scores in early morning Group 3 in France Telecaster secured his first win in over a year as he claimed an easy victory in the Group Three La Coupe at ParisLongchamp on Thursday. Hughie Morrison’s charge won last year’s Dante Stakes at York but failed to sparkle in subsequent starts in the Derby and Eclipse, with connections opting to bring an early halt to his campaign after that Sandown run. The four-year-old showed signs of a renaissance when third in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Haydock earlier this month, being beaten just a length and a quarter by subsequent Prince of Wales’s Stakes victor Lord North. Telecaster showed the benefit of that run in France as he travelled well throughout the 10-furlong heat, with Christophe Soumillon happy to sit in third as Diamond Vendome built up a sizeable early lead before he came back to the field in the straight. Soumillon waited until the two-furlong point to unleash Telecaster and the New Approach colt responded in style, stretching clear with his rider looking over his shoulder before easing down well ahead of the line. Morrison said: “The plan worked out perfectly. It was nice for him to win a race with ease and have a nice experience. “We love going to France. They set it up nicely for us. It was the first race before it got really hot, on fresh ground. “The irony is that they went very slow — a French pace — at Haydock which didn’t help us, yet today they went an English pace and it looked a well-run race. “It’s encouraging. Have horse, will travel now. “The Eclipse will come too soon I imagine. He’s in the reconvened Tattersalls Gold Cup, there’s the Juddmonte at York and we might even consider a mile and a half, so there are lots of options.”
