Sheikh Mohammed’s homebred Cavalryman charged home to dispatch the Ballydoyle contingent in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on Tuesday.

Cavalryman (3c Halling – Silversword by Highest Honor) gave trainer Andre Fabre his tenth victory in the Bastille Day feature and he is now as short as 8/1 with bookmakers for the Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 4. 

“He has progressed very well with every race and is certainly a very good horse,” Fabre claimed.  “We will think about the Prix Niel and the Arc but I need to talk it over with Sheikh Mohammed first.”
Ballydoyle bunny Hail Caesar (Montjeu) made the running before stable elect Age Of Aquarius (Galileo) went to the front under Johnny Murtagh.

But Cavalryman raced away in the final furlong to continue his rise up the ranks in recent months.  He was runner-up to stablemate and fellow Halling colt Cutlass Bay in the Prix Greffulhe (G2) at Saint-Cloud in May and then won the Prix Matchem by six lengths at the same venue on June 1.

The Grand Prix de Paris is regarded by purists as France’s true ‘Derby’ since it was revamped to 2400m in 2004.  Fabre completed the Grand Prix de Paris – Arc double with Juddmonte Farms homebred Rail Link (Dansili) in 2005.