A Driving Finish to Deauville G1

Irish maestro O'Brien's Diego Velazquez wins by a nose in Prix Jacques Le Marois

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DEAUVILLE - Sponsored for the first time by the famous Aga Khan Studs, the 2025 renewal of the €1 million (S$1.5 million) Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois (1,600m) at Deauville on Aug 17 went right down to the wire, with Diego Velazquez hanging on by a nose to beat the fast-closing Notable Speech.

Trained by Irish maestro Aidan O'Brien, the Frankel five-year-old who had scored four Group wins previously, including his last-start win in the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes (1,400m) at Curragh on July 20, has reached the pinnacle of his racing career with that first Group 1 victory in France's international feature race.

Ridden by Christophe Soumillon, the Irish-bred broke from gate 10 and landed in front in the middle of the 1,600m straight.

Japanese raider Go To First (Mirai Iwata) was behind him, while eight other runners were bunched up near the rails.

The two gradually closed the gap with the rest on the rails approaching the 1,000m mark, with Soumillon settling Diego Velazquez in third on the outside.