Komorebi presses Poulains claims with G3 Prix de Fontainebleau victory

Komorebi exacted his revenge on Nighttime and booked his spot in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains with a battling success in the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau at Longchamp, France, on Sunday, 12 April. 

Three-quarters of a length had separated the duo when Nighttime prevailed over the Godolphin runner in September’s G3 Prix La Rochette, with the winner going on to finish second in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day. 

Komorebi broke smartly and was taken back to find cover in sixth on the inside rail, one place ahead of Nighttime, as Dorzal made the running in the mile trial. 

Angled out by Alexis Pouchin in the straight, Komorebi unleashed a strong turn of foot to lead entering the final furlong, although Nighttime moved up to head the Pinatubo colt soon after.

Komorebi rallied to regain his lead with half a furlong to race and fought all the way to the line for a short-neck verdict as the front two pulled clear of Elastic in third. 

Trainer Andre Fabre said: “I am delighted. Komorebi is a fighter, like his sire. He is not a morning glory, but a nice trier. He wintered well – he hasn’t grown much – but he came here in good condition and did everything right.” 

Pierchic gained some valuable G3 Black Type as she stayed on powerfully to grab third in the Prix de la Grotte on the same card. 

A half-sister to G1 Oaks runner-up Dance Sequence, the Palace Pier filly had scored at Chelmsford for Charlie Appleby in November and ran well on her debut for Henri-Alex Pantall when going down by a nose at BordeauxL eBouscat last month. 

Having shown signs of inexperience in the stalls, Pierchic was steadied at the rear of the seven-strong field by Cristian Demuro as Ceramic tore off into a clear lead over stablemate Green Spirit. 

Night Of Thunder filly Evolutionist reeled in Ceramic with just over half a furlong to race before going away to score by two and a half lengths. Narissa flashed home to take second, with Pierchic also finishing her race strongly to get third on the line from last season’s G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Green Spirit.