After outclassing the field in the Grand Prix de Paris, Montmartre could meet Zarkava in the Arc de Triomphe. There was Montmartre and then the rest… The Aga Khan’s colt flew home under a motionless Christophe Soumillon to lift the Grand Prix de Paris by four lengths – a margin which could easily have been doubled. The delighted jockey remarked, “He showed today that he is out of the ordinary. He has a big stride and needs a mile and a half in a race with pace.” Alain de Royer Dupré was vindicated in his esteem for the colt and said, “Now you can see why we went straight from a Maiden to the Prix du Jockey-Club with him. We know that he is very, very good.” The trainer has always believed in Montmartre and the colt erased the bad memories of his Prix du Jockey-Club, when he became upset by the festive atmosphere of Chantilly on Derby day and was unable to show his real quality. HH Aga Khan commented, “We knew that he was good, but weren’t sure if he would be able to show it on the racecourse. He’s not an easy horse to train and Alain has done a tremendous job. Montmartre is clearly a colt on the way up.”

Montmartre is from the Jean-Luc Lagardère breeding operation, which joined that of the Aga Khan Studs in 2004. He is out of Artistique, a daughter of Linamix who won the Gr 3 Prix Berteux and,in addition to Montmartre, has also produced Gr 3 third Artistica.

Updated on 15/07/2008