By Tom Frary
Sunday's G2 Qatar Prix Niel looked the least-convincing on paper of all the Arc “trials” on the ParisLongchamp card and, while the times backed up that impression, few would count the improving Andre Fabre colt Cualificar (Lope De Vega) out for next month's feature. Up to a mile and a half for the first time, Godolphin's Prix du Jockey Club runner-up had to do it all late on as he was freed from the pack to master his peers but had the answers for William Buick to enter the fray for the race his trainer has won a record eight times.
Compared to the Vermeille and Foy, this was slow-motion stuff despite the admirable winner's late surge from an unpromising position to run down Bay City Roller (New Bay) close home and win by a short head. The 12-5 second favourite closed out the final three furlongs in a relatively pedestrian 34.09, so he has a way to go to get to the level of the older horses and the likes of Gezora and Bedtime Story next month but the prospect of slow ground could yet bring him into the picture.
Fabre, who will have a strong hand in next month's showcase with Sosie the star turn, had run Cualificar in the 10-furlong G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano last month and explained, “He got quite heavy this summer, so I thought he needed an extra run before this and it was something I did a long time ago with Trempolino. It's an impressive win for sure, but this is just a prep race for the Arc and it was what I was hoping for and expecting, with the step up in trip and the softer ground.”
Buick was impressed. “I was in that position from pretty much the get-go and I knew all the way through the race I was going to have to try and find an out at some stage,” he explained. “In these races, the horses are often closely matched and you don't often get the gap.”
“It always takes a bit of doing and he's a horse who is improving. I was impressed with him when I rode him in the Prix du Jockey Club and I think he's only getting better,” he added. “It was his first time going a mile and a half and he was very happy going the distance so you would have to be happy with what he did.”
George Scott said of Bay City Roller, “I am obviously very pleased with how he ran. We have always believed in him and a horse like him has his whole future ahead of him. I think he will have another race, so we'll discuss it with Sheikh Nasser and see what he thinks. We desperately need soft ground! Everywhere we go, it dries up! I promise you, he will be a much better horse with some ease in the ground, so we will wait.”
Francis Graffard said of the third-placed Parachutiste (Dubawi), “He's a nice colt who stays the trip. I need to discuss it with the owners, but we are going to try to let him mature, so I doubt we will run him back on testing ground. We'd rather give him time and aim to make him a good four-year-old.”
Cualificar reels in Bay City Roller to win the Group Two Qatar Prix Niel! 🏆🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/nRRMygnB4J
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 7, 2025
Pedigree Notes
Cualificar is out of the Oaks heroine Qualify (Fastnet Rock), whose prior best is the G3 Jebel Ali Mile winner Swing Vote by Lope De Vega's sire Shamardal. A full-sister to the Bahrain champion Shogun, she is a daughter of the G2 Park Hill Stakes runner-up Perihelion (Galileo) who is in turn a granddaughter of the Oaks runner-up Media Luna.
Connected to the St Leger hero Brian Boru (Sadler's Wells), the Derby hero Workforce (King's Best), the Alabama and Kentucky Oaks heroine Flute (Seattle Slew) and Kodiac's Group 1-winning full-brothers Best Solution and El Bodegon, Qualify has the unraced two-year-old filly by Pinatubo named Harriet Quimby and a colt foal by Dark Angel.
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX NIEL-G2, €119,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-7, 3yo, 12fT, 2:30.56, g/s.
1–CUALIFICAR (GB), 128, c, 3, by Lope De Vega (Ire)
1st Dam: Qualify (Ire) (G1SW-Eng & GSW-Ire, $485,356), by Fastnet Rock (Aus)
2nd Dam: Perihelion (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
3rd Dam: Medicosma, by The Minstrel
O/B-Godolphin; T-Andre Fabre; J-William Buick. €67,830. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Fr, 8-4-1-2, €533,445. *1/2 to Swing Vote (GB) (Shamardal), GSW-UAE, $198,861. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Bay City Roller (Ire), 128, c, 3, New Bay (GB)–Bloomfield (Ire), by Teofilo (Ire). (€320,000 Ylg '23 GOFOR). O-Victorious Racing Ltd; B-John Connaughton; T-George Scott. €26,180.
3–Parachutiste (Ire), 128, c, 3, Dubawi (Ire)–Paix (Ire), by Muhaarar (GB). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€500,000 Ylg '23 ARQAUG). O-Qatar Racing Ltd, Ecurie des Monceaux & Ecurie Skymarc Farm; B-Ecurie des Monceaux & Ecurie Skymarc Farm; T-Francis-Henri Graffard. €12,495.
Margins: SNK, 1HF, SNK. Odds: 2.40, 16.00, 8.60.
Also Ran: Tennessee Stud (Ire), Nitoi, Leffard (Fr), Swagman (Ger), Aftermath (Ire).
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