Sulamani wins Prix Niel farce
But the victory, which extended the French Derby’s winner unbeaten sequence to four, came in controversial circumstances after a farcically slow early pace saw Sulamani greeted with a hail of boos as he returned to the winner’s enclosure.
Indeed for the first half-mile of the Group Two race it was hard to tell if the race had actually started and there was uncertainty over whether the three runners were trying to pull up after a false start.
Eventually Sulamani, who returned the 30/100 favourite on the pari-mutuel, took up the running after about three furlongs but still the runners crept round Longchamp’s turns at a snail’s pace.
It wasn’t until about two and a half furlongs from the finish that winning jockey Thierry Thulliez finally asked his partner to quicken up and although Sulamani’'s two rivals were closing a little at the finish, he held a two-length winning margin at the line.
Alan Cooper, racing manager for Sulamani’s owners the Niarchos Family, said: “I’m not surprised that the crowd are unhappy and it is unfortunate that the race went the way it did but the main race is in three weeks’ time. At least Thierry had the gumption to take the initiative and take the lead.”
Sulamani’s time was more than 46 seconds slower than that clocked by Pearly Shells, the winner of the following Group One Prix Vermeille over the same mile-and-a-half trip.
