'He was sensational' - Look De Vega powers past Prix du Jockey Club rivals to maintain unbeaten record

Look De Vega made up for a lack of racecourse experience with abundant talent as he turned an open-looking Qatar Prix du Jockey Club into a procession under Ronan Thomas, sparking joyful scenes in the winner's enclosure as the colt's owners woke up to the reality of what they had just witnessed.

At the centre of the celebrations were a father-and-son training partnership who have taken the son of 2010 winner Lope De Vega from the obscurity of a Fontainebleau newcomers' race last November, via a belated return to action at Longchamp last month, to the summit of his generation in just three steps.

Argentine-born joint-trainer Carlos Lerner has been up the Prix du Jockey Club mountain once before in 2001, when Christophe Soumillon steered Anabaa Blue to victory on the day he turned 20 and wept tears of disbelief. 

A 15-year-old Yann Lerner led Anabaa Blue up that day and, after riding more than 160 winners, joined his father on the licence at their Maisons-Laffitte base in 2013.

Look De Vega was given a quote of 8-1 (from 33) by Coral for the Arc after pulling two lengths and a neck clear of the Andre Fabre-trained pair First Look and Sosie with the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter filling fourth, just as he had in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

"He’d run only twice and we all know why, we’ve hidden nothing about his hold-up from the press, and I think it’s turned out for the best because he is a big horse," said Yann Lerner.  "To do what he did there on only his third start is sensational.

"The only small worry was whether he could make the most of his good draw in stall three, but once I could see him travelling easily in third or fourth in front of the Grandes Ecuries, he was just laughing at them. 

"He has a huge turn of foot and I thought he was the winner the whole way. When Ronan pulled him out he did it easily and I hope Ronan took as much pleasure on board as we did watching."

Nobody seemed in any rush to make future plans for Look De Vega, although Lerner admitted he thought the winner "ticked a lot of boxes" when it comes to thinking about the Arc. 

"We'll let the dust settle, but I'm confident he would stay the trip, and the Arc is often run in quite testing conditions, which he's shown he can handle," said Lerner. "After what we've just seen I don't think there's much doubt either about his quality."

For 46-year-old Thomas this was undoubtedly a huge career moment, with his only previous Derby success coming on In Swoop in the German version (Deutsches Derby) in 2020.

Yann Lerner thrusts his trainer's trophy to the sky after Look De Vega's win in the Qatar Prix du Jockey ClubCredit: Racing Post/Burton

"I’ve ridden In Swoop and other very good horses, although not always in races," said Thomas. "But I know a good horse when I come across one and I had very few doubts about his quality. 

"I was extremely serene throughout the race, and it’s very easy to ride the good horses. Everything went perfectly and the planets aligned for him. His trainers have always believed in him and they have overcome a couple of little hiccups in his preparation. They always kept this objective in sight and have rigorously prepared him. The colt always stood up when they asked him for effort, and that was the winning of this Jockey Club."

Fabre was pleased with the performance of his place-getters, and nominated Sosie as the more likely of the two to step up in trip in the coming months.

"I’ve no complaints," said Fabre. "They’ve both run well for horses who were a bit fresh in some ways. I would have liked Sosie to have had another race, but with the bad ground we couldn’t run. I would say that Sosie can go further, while a mile and a quarter would be good for First Look."

Cox was left to rue the rain which had fallen over the last week, rendering the Chantilly track a mixture of soft and good to soft. 

"Ghostwriter had a great trip round and I’m really happy with how he travelled through the race," the trainer said. "He probably just didn’t find that change of gear that he has on quicker ground. I’m really pleased he’s put up a positive performance and he’s still a nice horse in the making."

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