'I’m very proud to do that for my dad' - Diego Velazquez claims Group 1 breakthrough in famous Sangster silks

History has a habit of rhyming in racing and Deauville was sent back to the 1970s and 80s as a horse trained at Ballydoyle carried the fabled emerald green and blue silks of the Sangster family to success in one of Europe’s major Group 1s. 

It was Robert Sangster who owned such turf immortals as The Minstrel and Golden Fleece, both trained in County Tipperary by Vincent O’Brien.

Aidan O'Brien has guided the career of Diego Velazquez, while it was Sangster’s son Sam who concluded a deal to buy the powerful son of Frankel from the Coolmore partners earlier this week, with the aim of standing him at the National Stud. 

Tears flowed as freely as congratulations were exchanged after Diego Velazquez and Christophe Soumillon held off the late charge of Notable Speech to land the €1 million Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois, while Dancing Gemini just got the better of Docklands in the fight for third. 

The first thought as Sangster hugged a myriad well-wishers at Deauville was of the relief he must have felt at the steep rise in the value of his recently acquired stock. 

But the poignancy of seeing those ageless silks back in the number one spot on the biggest stage was inescapable.

If Sangster hadn’t felt it before, then being handed the trophy by Princess Zahra Aga Khan will have surely brought it all home to him, as the son and the daughter of two of the most important racing figures of their time were brought together on the podium.

Sangster said: “It’s our first Marois and I’m very proud to do that for my dad, who’s up there and who I think of all the time. It was a very emotional moment for me.”

When Robert Sangster’s reputation as a fearless dealmaker was put to him, Sangster laughed before adding: “I just think he would be very proud.

“Aidan was very confident and the horse was so relaxed. I think I was the first one in the pre-parade ring, half an hour before the horse, and Aidan said, ‘He’s the best I’ve ever had him.'

“That gave me a bit more of a spring in my step – I’d been pretty nervous all week.”

For O’Brien, the expectation had potentially been greater with The Lion In Winter, but he faded to finish last of the ten runners after attempting to make all. 

O'Brien said: “Diego Velazquez has done everything, he had good two-year-old form, good three-year-old form. He’s a great model and he’s determined. 

“He's really come right in the last week. The Minstrel Stakes which he won at the Curragh is a fast seven furlongs, and you have to be sharp for this race.”

O’Brien is a keen student of turf history and needed little prompting to recognise the significance of a Group 1 win in these colours.

Diego Velazquez lands the Prix Jacques le MaroisCredit: © APRH / QUENTIN BERTRAND

“Would you believe I was thinking of it when I saw him going down the track,” said O’Brien. “Would we ever think we'd have a horse running in Mr Sangster’s colours? It’s incredible and I’m so delighted for Sam.”

The Marois carries win-and-you’re-in status for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, which will be Diego Velazquez’s main end-of-season target.

O’Brien said: “We thought he'd be a horse for the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland and then maybe the Breeders’ Cup Mile. He loves fast ground and is fast himself.”

Charlie Appleby was waiting in the winner's enclosure to applaud both the Coolmore connections and Sam Sangster, though he must have felt deep frustration after Notable Speech just ran out of road, beaten a head.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan presents the trophies to Sam Sangster (sun glasses) and Christophe SoumillonCredit: Scott Burton (racingpost.com/photos)

“We’re delighted with the way he ran,” said Appleby. “It’s always tough to be beaten by so little, but the most important thing is to see the horse back to his best.

“We dropped back in distance last time and you have to try things sometimes, but a mile is his trip. We’ll work back from the Breeders’ Cup, and I’d imagine we’ll go to Canada next for the Woodbine Mile.”

Roger Teal was proud of Dancing Gemini’s effort and felt the ground might have been against his stable star.

“He’s run an exceptional race on ground that was probably on the quick side for him,” said Teal. “He wasn’t completely at ease on it late on.

“Next up will be the Prix du Moulin, where we hope there might be a bit more ease in the ground, though he doesn’t need it very soft.”

Japanese outsider Go To First finished fifth, while Christophe Lemaire cited a slow pace as the undoing of compatriot Ascoli Piceno in sixth. 

Read these next:

'A son of Frankel, a Group 1 winner, it's incredible stuff' - National Stud-bound Diego Velazquez captures Jacques le Marois glory in Sangster silks 

Coolmore and Amo Racing go toe to toe as well-related Wootton Bassett colt brings €2.3 million in Deauville 

Damysus follows in stablemate Ombudsman's footprints by powering home in Deauville Listed event 

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