Sajir Springs Upset in Prix Maurice de Gheest Thriller

French 4YO beats favourite Lazzat to hand trainer Fabre his 1st win in Deauville Group 1

- Sharon Zhang

French runner Sajir produced a commanding last-to-first victory in the €380,000 ($568,000) Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest (1,300m) at Deauville on Aug 10 to not only pull off his highest achievement, but also give the legendary French trainer Andre Fabre his first success in the feature.

The elusive Prix Maurice de Gheest had left a rare gap in the record of France's greatest trainer in the last 40 years.

For a man whose horses have won almost everything, the only French Group 1 still missing from his roll of honour - now that the Prix Maurice de Gheest box has been ticked - is the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp, a straight 1,000m dash held on Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe day in Paris every year.

But the 30-time French champion handler did not hold the ace in the Prix Maurice de Gheest. It was the all-conquering Wathnan Racing-owned and Jerome Reynier-trained Lazzat who was all the rage in the market.

The defending champion had won his last two starts, including his last run in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1,200m) at Royal Ascot on June 21, and was seen as the hot favourite to make it three wins in a row and make it back-to-back de Gheests.