'He couldn't see him getting beat' - Maranoa Charlie lands the Prix de la Foret for Yorkshire owners

There may have been no British-trained winners on the Arc card but there was a loud Yorkshire cheer when Maranoa Charlie landed the Qatar Prix de la Foret.

The three-year-old is based with Christopher Head in France but owned by Bond Thoroughbred Limited, the family operation that inherited the black and yellow colours of the late Reg Bond, a Yorkshireman who started out with £350 and ended up creating a multi-million-pound tyre wholesale empire.

It will have cost rather more than £350 to buy Maranoa Charlie privately this summer after the three-year-old had scored for the third time at Group 3 level when making all in the Prix Paul de Moussac at Longchamp in June.

Yet he looks a wise investment all the same after the colt took the Foret from the front to secure his first Group 1 prize, after near-misses at Deauville and York. It was also a timely success for a budding stallion, whose sire Wootton Bassett died last month. 

"I'm lost for words," Charlie Bond said after the three-year-old had held on by a length and a quarter under Aurelien Lemaitre. "We've had three runs, he'd nearly won two Group 1s before today and he's an amazing horse. We're so lucky really.

"Christopher said he'd been working so well going into today's race. He was back on home territory, he didn't have to travel all the way across to England. He said he was ready today and he couldn't see him getting beat. The jockey said he still had plenty left, he had more in the tank."

Charlie Bond (pink tie, third right) with his late father Reg

"This horse has been incredible," said Head, who won the race with Ramatuelle last year. "He goes in every ground, he can even go to the mile.

"With the loss of Wootton Bassett there is a possibility that the owner might put him as a stallion for next season but he would be such a miler next year. It was extremely satisfying to see him win here today."

Maranoa Charlie is a 10-1 chance for the Breeders' Cup Mile (from 16) with Paddy Power and Head said: "He has the profile to win a race in America, since he can be so fast at the beginning of the race. In America you need to have that kind of aptitude. The only question mark is the interest for him and his career as a stallion."

Asked about the future for his colt, Bond said: "We're going to sit down tomorrow with a clear head and make some decisions."

Favourite Zarigana, who was headed late on in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, could not get to the front this time and finished second again.

"She is extraordinary," said trainer Francis Graffard. "She comes there full of running and you think she’s going to win.

"She had to get past a very good horse who had enjoyed a good run round. But we all know Zarigana and it’s her who decides. You have to kid her along, but she’s a very difficult ride."

Read more . . .

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