British raider Havana Gold fired off his first top-level win in the Prix Jean Prat (Fr-I) June 30 at Chantilly while French classic winner Style Vendome finished unplaced in the one-mile race for 3-year-olds.
With Mickael Barzalona aboard, Havana Gold overhauled San Marino Rey with a sustained rally in the final 200 meters and stayed on to win by a short neck, covering the distance in 1:37.01 at 10-1 odds.
His victory marked the second group I winner in as many days for Darley sire Teofilo following Trading Leather in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Ire-I) June 29 at the Curragh.
Mondialiste, who set the pace along with Top Chill, finished 1 1/2 lengths back in third, denying Poule d'Essai des Poulains (Fr-I, French Two Thousand Guineas) winner and 6-4 favorite Style Vendome by a short head for third in the 12-horse field.
Lines of Battle, who won the United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-I) in March before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), checked in eighth following his runner-up finish to Trading Leather in the TRM Silver Stakes June 9 at the Curragh.
Havana Gold came into the Jean Prat after respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the French Guineas May 12 at Longchamp and Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-I) May 25 at the Curragh.
Trained by Richard Hannon, Havana Gold is owned by a partnership that includes Sheikh Fahad, Sheikh Suhaim, and Sheikh Hamad of Qatar Racing. His record improves to five wins, including the Somerville Tattersall Stakes (Eng-III) as a 2-year-old, and two seconds from 10 starts.
Havana Gold, like Trading Leather, is out of a Danzig line mare. His dam is two-time group-winning sprinter Jessica's Dream, a half sister to English stakes winner Major Cast, runner-up in the 2006 Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes (Eng-I) and 2005 Netjets Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (Fr-I).
