Lagardere 1/2 For Godolphin With Ultra & Cymric

Ultra held Cymric's late challenge by a short-neck at the end of the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere Sponsored By Al Hazm for two-year-olds over a mile at Longchamp, France, on Sunday, October 4.

Ultra, trained by Andre Fabre and with Mickael Barzalona up, retained his unbeaten record on his third start. The son of Manduro, one of three runners in the race for Godolphin, broke well from stall two and raced in second as First Selection set the pace.

Ultra, a bit keen in the early stages, came off the far rail and then was brought to make his challenge with a quarter-mile remaining and led with just over a furlong to go.

The colt ran on well and had enough in hand to hold the strong finish of Cymric, trained by John Gosden and ridden by William Buick, with the winning time being 1m 37.27s on good ground.

Cymric, by Kitten's Joy, was fast away from stall 10. The colt was held up and disputed eighth of the 11 runners. Switched out in the straight, Cymric made up ground strongly in the final furlong but could not quite get to grips with Ultra.

The third Godolphin runner, Herald The Dawn (Jim Bolger/Kevin Manning), raced keenly from the start when held up in sixth on the inside. He was asked for his effort with two furlongs left but could make no impression and finished seventh.

Andre Fabre said: "Ultra has got a bit of the talent of Manduro as well as his attitude and heart.

"He is a horse who is bred to get further next year so he has to be a Classic horse over a distance. The Derby could be for him next season."

Lisa-Jane Graffard of Godolphin commented: "Ultra is very strong and has such a bright future.

"He has a lot of quality and a great turn of foot. We expect him to stay a mile and a half next year and he had the class to win a Group One over a mile today."

Mickael Barcalona declared: "Ultra was a bit free early on but he settled down.

"He wound it up in the straight and I'm very satisfied with what he has done today.

"I concentrated on the winning line and was in the right place where it counts."

John Gosden remarked: "Cymric has done well from his wide draw as he got a long way back.

"He has run a lovely race and I couldn't be more pleased with him. That will be it for the year. I think he will get a mile and a quarter comfortably next year."

Ultra gave Godolphin a second victory in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, following on from Rio De La Plata in 2007.