G1 Prix Ganay third for Ghaiyyath

Ghaiyyath finished third in the G1 Prix Ganay over an extended 10 furlongs on turf at Longchamp, France, on Sunday, 28 April.

The performance marked the end of a run of four consecutive victories for the front-running Ghaiyyath.

The four-year-old Dubawi colt, trained by Charlie Appleby, was ridden by his usual jockey William Buick.

Unlike in his previous race, the 10-furlong G2 Prix d'Harcourt on Sunday, 7 April, Ghaiyyath could not establish a clear lead.

He broke well and raced in second on the outside initially before taking up the running after a couple of furlongs.

Ghaiyyath was kicked for home after turning into the straight, but was caught by the winner Waldgeist with a furlong remaining and, despite keeping on, lost second to Study Of Man in the closing stages, going down by four and a half lengths and a short-head. The winning time was a fast 2m 9.07s.

Charlie Appleby remarked: “William felt that Ghaiyyath did not have the turn of foot there on the slower ground.

“Personally, I feel the colt is ready to step up to a mile and a half now. I thinking that staying is going to be Ghaiyyath’s forte and the sooner we get him up to a mile and a half the better.

“I am not saying we are going to see a better horse, but it is going to put him back in his comfort zone.

“His style of running on the front-end means he always there to be shot at. I don’t think he has lost too much in defeat today – this was a tougher race and he has been beaten by two G1 winners.

“We were bang there and I think he is a horse we still have got a future with.

“He had a very soft lead the time before and put a nice bit of distance between himself and the rest of the pack at one stage and therefore they had to work hard to get to him and that probably finished their races off.

“Today, the opposition has sat close to him and not allowed him a soft lead and we were there to be picked up, which happened in the end.”