When one talks about the Prix du Jockey-Club, it is hard not to think of Pascal Bary, successful on no fewer than six occasions. From Celtic Arms in 1994 to Study Of Man in 2018, the Chantilly-based trainer has definitively left his mark on the classic. This Saturday, he will run Feed The Flame, a colt that has raced just twice.

Jean-Louis Bouchard, owner of the Kingman colt, has already won the Jockey-Club four times, each winner trained by Bary, and each with its own story. Feed The Flame is no exception. His handler deemed him such a late developer that he didn’t even enter him to the June classic, forcing him to supplement the horse at a cost of €72,000.

The colt was held back until just over seven weeks ago before making his debut. Bary was so surprised by how well he won that he decided to run him again just 18 days later in order to give him time to prepare the bay for the French Derby.

Now 70, Bary may not have the same number of horses he did in the past, but he still maintains 40-odd in training for renowned owners such as Bouchard, the Niarchos family, Skymarc Farm, and Gérard-Augustin Normand. A good run in the Jockey-Club would be the first step on the colt’s way to the Arc, one of the rare French Group 1 races still missing from Bary’s cv.

Before spending four years as assistant to François Boutin, Bary had a stint with Sir Mark Prescott in Newmarket. The Englishman had to wait until he was 74 to win the Arc (Alpinista 2022), so Bary still has time! As for Bouchard, should Feed The Flame win on Sunday, it will be a remarkable 5th Jockey-Club victory from just 11 runners.