Although often successful in France, notably with Alcazar in the Prix Royal-Oak, trainer Hughie Morrison is not known for his forays outside of Paris. He made an exception last Wednesday though, when One For Bobby secured the Gr.3 Grand Prix de Vichy. In the irons on this occasion was Christophe Soumillon, who subsequently lifted his eighth summer festival highlight.

Naranco, trained in Spain and ridden by Basque jockey, Ioritz Mendizabal, led the way for much of the race, followed by Harry Way who was nose-to-tail until the straight, with the future winner gradually making up ground on the wide outside of the track. Soumillon was forced to impose a long acceleration to hold off a fast-finishing Bolthole, but still secured victory by a comfortable 0.75 length margin. Naranco came in a further 1.5 lengths back.

Clearly thrilled by his win, the Belgian made the 8 sign with his fingers at the scales, celebrating his extraordinary success in the Grand Prix de Vichy. When asked about the race, Soumillon replied, “I’m delighted to have interrupted my holidays for this. My agent [Hervé Naggar] had to convince me to come and ride this English horse, saying I had a great chance, and he was right.

“It’s my eighth Grand Prix win, and it was one my first big wins when I was getting going, Kerrygold in 2000. As always, there’s a great ambience on Grand Prix evening, and when I can, I’m more than happy to come here.”

Said Alban de Mieulle of the runner-up’s race, “His jockey [Mickaël Barzalona] lost his whip, which can happen. Nobody can say if it changed anything. I’m very happy the way my horse ran, showing he was up to the mark. I might run him next in a Deauville Group 3 this summer.”