Bay’ Faces Wide Draw Again

So eyecatching when closing into second in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains, Khalid Abdullah’s New Bay (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will have to overcome another wide impost in Sunday’s G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly. Positioned in 16 for that May 10 Longchamp Classic, the homebred still managed to end up just three lengths adrift of stable companion Make Believe (GB) (Makfi {GB}) and has been handed the unfavorable 13 stall in this contest which is so often influenced by the draw. As on his last two starts, he will be partnered by the jump-racing sensation Vincent Cheminaud as Andre Fabre puts more big opportunities on the level his way. “I think he’s going to have a very good chance,” said the master of Chantilly, who is after a fourth renewal, in his typically understated way. “He proved himself in the Poulains. He was drawn wide and finished well. He is a horse that should enjoy the extra distance and all is well with him. New Bay enjoys the good ground, which it will be on Sunday.” Another drawn high is His Highness The Aga Khan’s Karaktar (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) in 12, while the fortunes have favored the unbeaten Sumbal (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) in five. Qatar Racing’s bay comes here on the back of an easy win in a soft renewal of the 10-furlong G2 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud May 5 and conditioner Francis-Henri Graffard admits he is in the dark regarding his true chances. “He’s in good form, but the problem with this horse is that he doesn’t have any form because he has only beaten small fields in each race,” he said. “I think he will run well, but I don’t know how good he is. We will find out on Sunday. He is improving all the time.” Other leading protagonists to have fared well from the draw are the impressive Apr. 6 G3 Prix la Force winner Silverwave (Fr) (Silver Frost {Ire}) in one and his next-door neighbor, Joseph Allen’s May 8 G3 Prix de Guiche scorer War Dispatch (War Front).