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Christophe Soumillon labelled his mount Zagrey as ‘amazing’ after he expertly steered the striking grey to Group 1 victory in the 153rd Wettstar.de Grosser Preis von Baden.
The 153rd Wettstar.de Grosser Preis von Baden threw up a thrilling finish on Sunday afternoon, with Zagrey narrowly getting the better of Mr Hollywood after a tactical mile-and-a-quarter affair, although the race lost something of it's local interest when German Derby winner Local Moon was withdrawn an hour before the contest due to unsuitable ground.
Yann Barberot's colt was sent off as short as 2/5 (F) to land a first top-level success having finished third behind Equinox in the Dubai Sheema Classic before finding only the King George Stakes runner-up Westover too strong in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud last time.
Backers of the 2/5 market leader would certainly have experienced some uncomfortable moments though as Christophe Soumillon found himself stuck behind a wall of horses as the pace began to lift. However, the Belgium-born magician managed to squeeze his mount towards the nearside rail and Zagrey stayed on powerfully once in the clear to get up for a neck success.
Soumillon, who like trainer Yann Barberot was landing the Group 1 prize for the first time, explained to Wettstar: "From the start, it was a very difficult race, and the jockeys changed their lines quite fast,"
"I wasn't in a great position approaching the first turn and I had to take a bit forward down the back straight.
"When I came into the straight, my horse changed legs and he was not fine. I gave him time and there was not a big gap, but I knew the main contender was right in front of me, so I was just trying to follow him.
"He has such a big heart and he fought so hard the last 150 yards. He is an amazing horse, and it is a pleasure for me to be here."
All roads now seemingly lead to Paris where Zagrey will bid to replicate Torquator Tasso, who won the Grosser Preis von Baden en-route to Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory in the 2021.
Barberot added: "It is never easy to win a Group 1, even with a horse as good as him,"
"It was a great race in the straight. Obviously, there wasn't a lot of room in the last 500 metres, especially in a race where there was no pace early on. But the horse showed a lot of courage to get there.
"Having said that, I was quite worried heading into the home straight."
Paddy Power made the winner 12/1 from 25/1 for Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe glory at Longchamp at the end of the month.
It was a big-race across-the-card double for trainer Yann Barberot, who saddled the highly-promising two-year-old colt Beauvatier to land the Group 3 Prix la Rochette at Longchamp.