Look De Vega remains unbeaten in three seizing French Derby glory for Ronan Thomas and the Lerner’s

The Chantilly Classic went to Look De Vega as he recreated his father Lope De Vega’s impressive victory in the French Derby, fourteen years on, landing Ronan Thomas his first Group 1 victory

Unbeaten in three Look De Vega notched the French Derby in style for Carlos and Yann Lerner and Ronan Thomas, leaving his perfect record intact at Chantilly in the feature.

Look De Vega maintained his flawless record to land the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club for Carlos and Yann Lerner.

One of the market leaders along with Aidan O’Brien’s Diego Velazquez, the colt came into the race with two comfortable prior victories under his belt.

He broke well from the stalls and settled in behind the front runners under Ronan Thomas, keeping his powder dry until the home straight when others began to falter.

Then he picked up the lead, surging clear in the final two furlongs to cross the line comfortably ahead of First Look.

Sosie took third with the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter in fourth, while David Menuisier’s Sunway and Diego Velazquez finished down the field.

It was an emotional victory for the team as Thomas landed his first French Group 1 victory while Carlos has had success in the race before back in 2001 with Anabaa Blue. However, this was his first success as a joint trainer with his son Yann.

Look De Vega was cut from 33/1 into 8/1 for the the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Francisco’s Piece lands Listed honours at Chantilly

Francisco’s Piece claimed a Listed prize in Chantilly with success in the Prix la Fleche for Adrian Keatley.

The Mayson colt has run twice on home turf, winning a Pontefract maiden on debut and then losing out by just a short head in a novice at York the next time.

Moving up to Listed level when travelling over to France, the two-year-old was competing over five furlongs again and was the ride of James Doyle.

Having started as the favourite, Francisco’s Piece was always in contention on an inside line and took up the lead in the final furlong to stride to a two-and-a-half-length victory.

“It was a nice opportunity for him, I was glad when I saw the entries and declarations,” the trainer told Sky Sports Racing.

“He’s a good horse, it’s a massive step forward for him and we were delighted to get that win under his belt.

“He’s going to improve loads, this horse is still a little bit behind in his coat, he’s still a bit underdeveloped so he’s going to improve a lot.

“We could come back here for the Prix (Robert) Papin, I don’t know if Ascot is on the agenda. Everybody wants to go to Ascot but I don’t mind – this fella can stay at home if he wants!

“It’s up in the air, we’ll assess the horse come Tuesday, Wednesday, and see if he’s lost weight and how he is and then we’ll decide.”

Amy Murphy’s Itsatenfromlen made the perfect start to his career when the winner of the Prix d’Orgemont under Tom Marquand.

A Sergei Prokofiev colt making his debut, the chestnut ran a neat race to prevail by a neck on his first experience of a racecourse and the trainer is hopeful the run will lead to better things.

“I think he’s very special, he’s a very big boy and he’s only going to improve for today,” said Murphy.

“We haven’t been hard on him to come here, he’s done this through natural ability and I think he’s pretty special.

“Today was very much the target, he’s a very laid-back horse who will take anything you throw at him.

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s perfectly good enough to be going to Ascot – he’s probably one of my best two-year-olds – but whether that’s the route we’ll take, we’ll see.”