Aidan O'Brien denied more Group 1 glory as Leffard runs down Trinity College to seal emotional win for Jean-Claude Rouget

Jean-Claude Rouget and Cristian Demuro have scaled the greatest heights in tandem, but there can surely never have been as emotional a triumph shared by the two men than Leffard’s nail-biting short-head defeat of Trinity College. 

The author of a pair of Arc victories with Demuro as his trusted man aboard, Rouget hadn’t won a Group 1 since that golden day in October 2023 when Ace Impact brought Longchamp to heel. 

More than that, he has been absent from the racecourse for a large part of the intervening time battling cancer, returning to Paris for the first time in more than a year when Leffard ran in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly last month. 

A wide draw did for the son of Le Havre on that occasion, but Rouget rolled the dice again, supplementing Leffard for €15,000 to the Grand Prix de Paris and handing the reins to Demuro for the first time in the Longchamp parade ring. 

A visibly more frail figure since his illness, Rouget still raised a shout and the rhythmic stamping and clapping that accompanied so many of his previous victories as Demuro slipped the stiletto in late to deny Ryan Moore and Trinity College, who had eased to the front two furlongs out.

“I think I’m more relaxed than I used to be!” said Rouget when asked how he felt as the result was confirmed. 

“The horse was very well so I said we’d try. He had a dream run through the race and my final instructions to Cristian were to leave it as late as he dared and be the last to attack.

“It’s been very hard but this is magnificent.”

Of all the top-flight jockeys operating in France, the orders to wait for the final rush will have been music to Demuro's ears and he bided his time in the second wave, all the time man-marking Moore and Trinity College.

Demuro only really went for everything a furlong and a half out and the rider of Sottsass and Ace Impact believes there is more to come from Leffard.

Cristian Demuro returns aboard Leffard after winning the Grand Prix de Paris

"He's a wonderful horse and I had a great trip in behind Ryan on the favourite," said Demuro. "When the race started in earnest I was momentarily tapped for toe but he has a lot of quality and he was able to reel him in.

"He must be a good horse because he's still a little babyish and I'd say there's plenty more to come."

Aidan O’Brien was philosophical after Trinity College was just denied late on.

“He’s run a great race and we just got beat,” said the trainer. “I think he stayed the mile and a half.”

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