U.S. Aiming for French Home Run

Outfielder heads visitors out to plunder last Deauville Group 1 spoils in Morny, Romanet

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DEAUVILLE - Although the curtain will not fall on the Deauville meeting until Aug. 30, it is on Aug. 24 that the final Normandy coast Group 1s of the summer will be run – the Prix Morny and Prix Jean Romanet.

A two-year-old contest, the €350,000 (S$524,000) Prix Morny (1,200m) has been won by French-trained horses just twice in the past 15 years.

With only 16-1 rank outsider Imperial Me Cen representing the home team this year, the 160-year-old race may head to either Ireland, Britain or even the U.S.

It is precisely from across the Atlantic that the Morny’s most intriguing attraction hails.

Not only is Outfielder’s trainer, sprint specialist Wesley Ward, to be feared for having snagged the Prix Morny three times with No Nay Never (2013), Lady Aurelia (2016) and Campanelle (2020), but it also brings typical American dream color with his flamboyant owner, former Major League Baseball star Jayson Werth.

The long-haired third-generation player is a relative newcomer to racing, buying his first horse shortly after hanging up his glove in 2018.

While some owners take decades before they find a champion, Werth has already won the third leg of the American Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, with Dornoch in 2024.