'What he's done there is just mad' - Double Major dominates Prix Royal-Oak rivals to claim a first Group 1 win

Double Major marked himself down as a serious player for domestic and foreign staying prizes with a dominant display in the final Group 1 of the French season under champion jockey-to-be Maxime Guyon

The only three-year-old in the line-up, Double Major put seven and a half lengths between himself and veteran Skazino, with Tashkhan the best of the British another three-quarters of a length away in third. 

"It’s always something to win a Group 1 at any stage of the year," said trainer Christophe Ferland. "What he's done there is just mad.

"He had the perfect trip, having his own way up front, and by the time they got to the false straight he already had the others on the stretch, while Maxime hadn’t yet moved. I wondered what he’d find but he accelerated regardless of the ground, and he’s just a crack, a very good horse."

Double Major's previous success against his own age group came here at the start of a sun-baked Arc weekend on ground light years away from this late-October heavy, meaning Ferland and owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer can entertain targets in the Middle East early next year.

"We’ll have to think about what we want to do," said Ferland. "He's entitled to a holiday now and he’ll need some downtime after that effort and the others during the season.

"We’ll make a decision about where we want to go, whether we want to have a crack at Dubai or not; it’s a decision we'll make together."

The success crowned the end of a season during which Ferland has returned to his roots, moving from his longtime base in the west at La Teste back to Chantilly, where he was previously assistant to Richard Gibson. 

The Wertheimers and Guyon – who will officially become France's champion jockey for the third time on Tuesday – were adding to Kelina's victory in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret and the jockey will head to California next week to partner both that filly and Arc third Onesto at the Breeders' Cup. 

"It’s been a great season and the only thing better would have been to win some Group 1s earlier in the year," said Guyon. "But we’ve finished strongly, with a magical Arc weekend, and then to win the final Group 1 of the year in France is fantastic. 

"I’m on two of the big French chances at the Breeders' Cup, horses who like good ground and should be effective around Santa Anita. Hopefully the weather will stay kind to us until raceday. They're both in excellent form; now we just need good draws."

Maxime Guyon: will win his third Cravache d'Or as champion jockey of France on TuesdayCredit: Francois Nel

Skazino showed by far his best form of the year and, at the age of seven, matched his result in this race from 2021. 

Tashkhan again showed he has class to go with his grit, adding third here to the same result just 15 days earlier under a welter burden of 10st 2lb in the Cesarewitch.

"Maybe if he hadn’t run in the Cesarewitch he could have been second," said trainer Brian Ellison. "He's had all the travelling on top of Newmarket, where he had a hard race, but he’s still run his heart out." 

He added: "We went to Chester because of ground, and we went to Newmarket because it went soft. We’re governed by the ground and that’s why he came here. But saying that, he’s picked up over a hundred grand in three races so he hasn’t done badly for a horse who cost very little money."

Metier finished seventh under Saffie Osborne. Trainer Harry Fry reported the Chester Cup winner had "run a little flat," while the James Fanshawe-trained Novel Legend was eighth of the 11 runners.

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