Tribalist Pulls Off Upset in Prix du Moulin

The list of great jockeys to allow the leaders a fraction too much rope over Longchamp's tumbling, turning mile gained a couple of notable additions as Mickael Barzalona and Tribalist  gradually increased their advantage in the mid-section of a stacked Prix du Moulin (G1), before showing all the resilience in the world to hold Charyn  (ridden by Silvestre de Sousa) and Henry Longfellow  (Ryan Moore) at bay, with Notable Speech  left spinning his wheels in the soft ground. 

Few who have followed the career of this admirable Godolphin-owned five-year-old son of Farhh  would begrudge Tribalist a first group 1, although at 25-1 even fewer expected him to do so in such rarefied company. 

"I know him extremely well now and I know how to ration his effort," said Barzalona, who stealthily stole lengths out of all but the outsider Caramelito on the descent into the false straight. "I knew it was Theo (Bachelot, rider of Caramelito) who was following me and I was confident my horse would keep going, while the ground also helped. He deserved that. He was so tough at the end and he's turned them all away." 

Trainer Andre Fabre was quick to deflect praise from himself and Barzalona, and said: "It's Tribalist, not the trainer. He's just good. Mickael Barzalona couldn't do anything else and he let him go."

Tribalist's previous run had been over six furlongs at Deauville, when he seemed to resent Barzalona's attempts to hold him up, and before this test Fabre had mentioned the Prix de la Foret (G1) over seven furlongs and the Prix Daniel Wildenstein (G2) down at over a mile as potential Arc weekend targets Oct. 5-6. 

Fabre added: "Nowadays there are no other options than the Foret. He could also go for the Breeders' Cup."

Del Mar will almost certainly be the next stop for Notable Speech, who was never able to get within striking distance of the leader and whose effort between the two and the one pole—only Charyn was faster—proved short-lived. 

"Charlie (Appleby) is very philosophical and it's all now geared towards the Breeders' Cup, where he'll get the ground he needs," said Godolphin chief executive Hugh Anderson, who was able to celebrate success, although probably not in the circumstances he expected. 

"We all saw at Goodwood and Newmarket that he has fantastic acceleration on the right surface. Tribalist showed another great attribute and skill on difficult ground."

Roger Varian saw no reason to deviate from the plan to run Charyn in the Oct. 19 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at Ascot after the dual group 1 winner closed the final three furlongs in :34.37, much slicker than any of his rivals.

"It was a frustrating watch," said Varian. "He's run a great race, everyone can see he's run a great race. When you finish second, you've got to tip your hat to the winner." 

Varian refused to single out Silvestre de Sousa, and instead blamed the way the whole race gradually evolved for the task Charyn and Henry Longfellow faced in the straight.

Varian wasn't inclined to search for excuses in a missing near-fore shoe, and said: "For me it's not an excuse. It's frustrating because he probably ran well enough to win the race. We'll congratulate the winner and move on."