By Tom Frary
Providing instant justification and reward for the investment by Sam Sangster Bloodstock, Ballydoyle's Diego Velazquez (Frankel) edged a thriller from Notable Speech (Dubawi) in Sunday's G1 The Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville. Always happy playing a prominent role away from the fence under Christophe Soumillon, the 12-1 shot stayed on to wrest the lead from Dancing Gemini (Camelot) with 100 metres remaining and found the line a head in front of the fast-closing Godolphin runner, who was 3/4 of a length behind in third.
“He's always been a very good horse and I'm so delighted for Sam–he's a very legitimate and desirable horse,” Aidan O'Brien said of the first winner of the race in the famed Sangster silks and his stable's second after Excelebration in 2012. “He's a great model and is determined and very brave–he had won a good trial in the Minstrel and they have to be sharp for that as it's a fast seven and he had just come right in the last week. It's incredible to have a horse running in those colours, I was just thinking of that when I saw him going down, we never thought we'd have a horse running in them. We thought he'd be a horse for the Keeneland Mile and then the Breeders' Cup Mile.”
Sam Sangster has the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in mind for the winner. “That meant a lot–we were so lucky that Aidan and Coolmore let us into the horse and we are even luckier now that's for sure,” he said. “He's an absolute gorgeous horse, a phenomenal mover and so tough. We could see him at the National Stud just by the way he walked out of his box. I thought he'd run a big race and he had been working very well and he's shown how good he really is. We were thinking of going to Keeneland, as that's a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup, but we'll let Aidan decide.”
Charlie Appleby also has the Breeders' Cup in mind for the runner-up, who was flashing home and could be considered unlucky having had to wait for his run. “The important thing is that he is back to his best,” he said. “William had to wait and when you do that you are either hero or villain, but that is how he has to be ridden. He could go for the Woodbine Mile and then the Breeders' Cup Mile.”
Labelled one of the stable's many TDN Rising Stars at two, Diego Velazquez ended his first two campaigns with three Pattern-race wins all at Leopardstown and a close fourth in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains but no Group One. Relaunched in the Queen Anne, he failed to fire before returning to winning ways in the seven-furlong G2 Minstrel Stakes at The Curragh last month.
This was as straightforward as it gets for the winner, enjoying a clear run throughout wide of the rail and able to benefit from the effort of Dancing Gemini to get past the leader The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars). Blessed with stamina for a miler, as he had shown when taking the nine-furlong Meld Stakes by seven lengths last term, Diego Velazquez put in a closing three-furlong sectional of 32.81 to see off Roger Teal's stable star. Perhaps the story of the race was the incredible 32.27 equivalent carved out by Notable Speech, whose individual splits of 10.84, 10.70 and 10.72 are truly elite.
“He had won a good trial in the Minstrel and they have to be sharp for that, as it's a fast seven,” O'Brien added. “He had just come right in the last week. He loves fast ground and he's quick, so we thought he'd be a horse for the Keeneland Mile and then the Breeders' Cup Mile. A lot of money has been spent this week on his stallion career, but sometimes money isn't what matters. What they achieved today–you can't buy that, those memories.”
Charlie Appleby also has the Breeders' Cup in mind for the runner-up, who possibly was running his most impressive race to date. “It's frustrating to be beaten by so little, but the most important thing is to see him back to his best,” he said. “William had to wait and when you do that you are either hero or villain, but that is how he has to be ridden. The mile is his optimum trip–we tried dropping him back last time, as sometimes you need to experiment. He could go for the Woodbine Mile and then the Breeders' Cup Mile.”
Roger Teal said of Dancing Gemini, “The ground was probably a bit too quick and perhaps he didn't fully settle, but it was still a top-class performance. He had already beaten today's winner three times before on softer ground and a Group One win will come soon. We'll go to ParisLongchamp for the Prix du Moulin, hoping for slightly easier going and then there is Ascot. His new bit made him a bit keener early on. I don't know why he couldn't run in his usual bit–he's raced at Longchamp with it before.”
Diego Velazquez just holds on from the fast-finishing Notable Speech to land the Group One @AgaKhanStuds Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville! 🏆🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/xrHpn7ahoE
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) August 17, 2025
Pedigree Notes
That Diego Velasquez should be so effective at this trip is a surprise, given that his sire's 40th Group One winner is a half-brother to the strong-staying Broome and Point Lonsdale by another of Galileo's high-profile sons in Australia. Between them, they garnered a dozen Group wins and a Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at the highest level which goes some way to explaining this horse's 2.4million gns price tag as a yearling. The speed emanates mostly from the dam, the Listed National Stakes winner Sweepstake (Acclamation) who was second in the GIII Appalachian Stakes and third in the G3 Princess Margaret Stakes.
Under the second dam Dust Flicker (Suave Dancer) are Havana Grey's fast Stakes-winning brothers Elite Status and Soldier's Heart, while the excellent Hesmonds Stud family also features the Phoenix Stakes-winning sire Zoffany, Acclamation's G3 Bengough Stakes-winning sprinter Projection and Holy Roman Emperor's G3 Anglesey Stakes-winning sire Wilshire Boulevard. After Diego Velasquez, Sweepstake's next offering is a colt foal by St Mark's Basilica.
Sunday, Deauville, France
THE AGA KHAN STUDS PRIX JACQUES LE MAROIS-G1, €1,000,000, Deauville, 8-17, 3yo/up, c/f, 8fT, 1:34.23, g/s.
1–DIEGO VELAZQUEZ (IRE), 131, c, 4, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Sweepstake (Ire) (SW & GSP-Eng & US, $114,162), by Acclamation (GB)
2nd Dam: Dust Flicker (GB), by Suave Dancer
3rd Dam: Galaxie Dust, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
TDN Rising Star. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (2,400,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Sam Sangster; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Cristophe Soumillon. €571,400. Lifetime Record: MGSW-Ire, 11-6-0-0, €930,815. *1/2 to Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}), G1SW-Fr, MGSW & G1SP-Ire, GSW-Eng & UAE, GISP-USA, $2,814,348; and Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), MGSW & G1SP-Eng & Ire, G1SP-Fr, GSP-Bhr, $906,260. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Notable Speech (GB), 131, c, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Swift Rose (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). TDN Rising Star. O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby. €228,600.
3–Dancing Gemini (Ire), 131, c, 4, Camelot (GB)–Lady Adelaide (Ire), by Australia (GB). O/B-Fishdance Ltd; T-Roger Teal. €114,300.
Margins: HD, 3/4, NK. Odds: 12.00, 5.00, 6.80.
Also Ran: Docklands (GB), Go To First (Jpn), Ascoli Piceno (Jpn), Zabiari (GB), Ridari (Fr), King Gold (Fr), The Lion In Winter (Ire). Scratched: Rosallion (Ire).
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