By Tom Frary
Badly in need of a confidence boost ahead of Royal Ascot, Wathnan's Lazzat (Territories) got just that in Thursday's G3 Prix du Palais-Royal at ParisLongchamp.
Sent off the 30-100 favourite for the seven-furlong contest, the five-year-old who had endured five consecutive reversals since his epic defeat of Satono Reve in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes in June was launched by Mickael Barzalona 300 metres out and coaxed clear for a smooth 4 1/2-length success. Silius (Dubawi) was second, with the outsider Rencontre Sportive (Seabhac) another 1 1/4 lengths away in third.
Narrowly denied when defending his title in the Prix Maurice de Gheest in August and on his return to Ascot for the British Champions Sprint Stakes, Lazzat had also come unstuck in the Haydock Sprint Cup after Royal Ascot and was coming here as the beaten favourite on two more occasions in the 1351 Turf Sprint and Al Quoz Sprint. This smooth performance will add that intangible extra back to his game ahead of next month's big test and Wathnan's Freddie Morley was looking ahead with confidence.
“It was a very good performance and all roads now lead back to Ascot to try and defend his crown,” he said. “Jerome had given him a break and built him back up and six or seven come alike to him. You can't really ask for more, he really did lengthen today.”
ℹ️ Kieran Shoemark has confirmed Noble Champion was “too fresh” and is none the worse physically after his run in the Prix du Palais-Royal. https://t.co/4jXlYGSfpL
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 21, 2026
Pedigree Notes
Lazzat is the first foal out of Lastochka (Australia), a granddaughter of the 1,000 Guineas heroine Sleepytime (Royal Academy) whose four black-type winners include Speightstown's G3 Superior Mile winner Hathal. This is the Charles Wacker family of Sleepytime's Sussex Stakes-winning full-brother Ali-Royal and the four times Group 1-winning Taipan (Last Tycoon) and Prix d'Ispahan-winning fellow sire Croco Rouge (Rainbow Quest). Lastochka has the twice-raced three-year-old maiden filly Lamiya (Golden Horde), the two-year-old colt Lazzar (Lope De Vega) and a colt foal by Siyouni.
Thursday, ParisLongchamp, France
PRIX DU PALAIS-ROYAL-G3, €137,200, ParisLongchamp, 5-21, 3yo/up, 7fT, 1:19.12, sf.
1–LAZZAT (FR), 130, g, 5, by Territories (Ire)
1st Dam: Lastochka (GB), by Australia (GB)
2nd Dam: Lashyn, by Mr. Greeley
3rd Dam: Sleepytime (Ire), by Royal Academy
(£2,250,000 RNA 3yo '24 GOFLON). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Sumbe; T-Jerome Reynier; J-Mickael Barzalona. €68,600. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng & Fr, G1SP-UAE & GSP-KSA, 17-9-4-1, €3,088,530. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Silius (Ire), 130, c, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Silasol (Ire), by Monsun (Ger). O/B-Wertheimer & Frere; T-Christophe Ferland. €27,440.
3–Rencontre Sportive (Fr), 119, g, 3, Seabhac–Ponte Di Legno (Fr), by Sinndar (Ire). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Takumi Nakanishi, Hiroo Shimizu & Tetra United LLC; B-James Baudouin; T-Hiroo Shimizu. €20,580.
Margins: 4HF, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.30, 4.70, 31.00.
Also Ran: Lanzelot Gold (Fr), Noble Champion (Ire).
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