HOT favourite Maquignon won the Polygon Collective Jersey St Leger on the Race Club’s first evening meeting of the season at CoinShares Les Landes.
It was the next step in the success story for owners, the Group de Mon Visage syndicate, who had suffered disappointments in the horse’s early days in their colours.
Maquignon was bred in France, but his sire Recorder was bred and owned by the late Queen, in whose colours he raced before moving to France to begin stallion duties.
His sole win there was in a handicap at Longchamp in heavy going before being acquired by Alyson Malzard in 2023.
His early runs at Les Landes were undistinguished and worse was to follow last season when he finished last then refused to race before showing a glimmer of ability.
This year he is transformed and a credit to team Malzard. After a promising second place to a hot favourite from the UK he won two handicaps by an aggregate 16 lengths and lined up the odds-on favourite on Friday and duly won the Jersey St Leger after making almost all the running.
Stable companion Roi Du Monde was second with Nature, the lowest rated in the race, an honourable if distant third.
The word maquignon is French for horse-dealer and is sometimes used to describe a less-than-honest trader, but even if he is a little eccentric there is nothing dishonest about this year’s Jersey St Leger winner.
The evening started controversially when the Tommy A’Court Hurdle was sent off more than two minutes before the due time to the consternation of punters who were unable to get their bets on.
It produced a surprise result when the odds-on Diplomatie was beaten. All three runners were still in contention at the final hurdle, but George Bancroft’s flat race speed and Charlotte Jones’s drive were decisive.
He ran out a two lengths winner over the favourite with Bigup only a head further back. This was Charlotte Jones’s first ride at Les Landes.
George Bancroft was the first leg of a double for Karl Kukk, whose St Ouen got the best of a thrilling contest for the 1823 Cellar Sprint.
After a false start in which Cool Dandy broke well, she was badly away and had no chance when the field was off at the second attempt.
Four of the seven runners were upsides inside the final furlong with the outcome in doubt until Raul Da Silva galvanised St Ouen to a one-length win over outsider Bank On Kent with favourite Profit And Loss just half a length back in third. The result paid an exacta tote dividend of £144 for a £1 stake.
The La Verte Rue Associates Handicap provided a second winner, after Maquignon, for Alyson and Victoria Malzard.
Cueros, last early in the nine furlongs contest, finished strongly to collar stable companion Resilient Power in the final furlong with Birkie Boy running on well for third.
It was Resilient Power’s third runner up spot in a row and he deserved to get his head in front at the winning post.
The Party Van Handicap, for horses rated 50 or below, resulted in a treble for team Malzard. The stable’s Allegro Jete was heavily supported into favouritism and looked likely to reward his backers when hitting the front in this mile and a quarter race
But stablemate The Ormer Gatherer and his pilot Alice Bond had other ideas, and they battled tenaciously for a narrow victory with Flashy Apache a close third.
The Ormer Gatherer’s racing days were thought to be over, but he did not take to retirement and back in training in Jersey he has clearly thrived. The rolled-over jackpot paid £740 for a £1 stake.
The forecast thunderstorm did not arrive, although rain in the early evening may have deterred some spectators. After race two the sun emerged, and the young and enthusiastic crowd was able to enjoy a good early summer evening’s sport.
The best-turned-out awards went to the grooms of George Bancroft, Timetodock, Nature, Evening Song and Casaruan; three from Karl Kukk’s yard and one each from Alyson Malzard’s and Celine De La Haye’s.
The next meeting is also on a Friday evening, the midsummer fixture on 27 June.
Results
The Tommy A’Court Hurdle
(A handicap about two miles, £1,780)
GEORGE BANCROFT 6/4 10.00 Charlotte Jones
DIPLOMATIE 1/2 11.12 Victoria Malzard
BIGUP 4/1 10.01 Fred Tett
The 1823 Celler Sprint
(A handicap about six furlongs, £1,780)
ST OUEN 7/2 9.02 Raul Da Silva
BANK ON KENT 16/1 8.06* Alice Bond (5)
PROFIT AND LOSS 5/4 10.05 Victoria Malzard
TIMETODOCK 7/1 8.05** Molly Gunn
GEMCUTTER 5/2 9.01 Fred Tett
COOL DANDY 8/1 8.05 Laura Coughlan
AL FARABI 3/1 10.12 Charlotte Jones
The Polygon Collective 2025 Jersey St. Leger
(A conditions stake about one mile & three quarters, £3,000)
MAQUIGNON 2/5 10.01 Victoria Malzard
ROI DU MONDE 2/1 10.01 Fred Tett
NATURE 12/1 9.12 Laura Coughlan
CAUSTIC 6/1 10.01 Raul Da Silva
NAN BRADY 14/1 9.12 Paddy Barlow (3)
The La Verte Rue Associates Handicap
(A handicap, about one mile & one furlong, £1,780)
CUEROS 7/4 10.12 Victoria Malzard
RESILIENT POWER 4/1 8.10 Molly Gunn
BIRKIE BOY 5/1 9.02 Laura Coughlan
BETWEEN THE COVERS 11/2 10.02 Charlotte Jones
PETITE FIAMMETTA 4/1 8.05 Alice Bond (5)
EVENING SONG 4/1 9.13 Raul Da Silva
COUNTESS CIARA 12/1 9.08* Paddy Barlow (3)
ADRENALINE RUSH 14/1 8.12** Reece Senior (7)
GRECIAN JEWEL N/R 10.02
The Party Van Handicap
(A handicap, about one mile & a quarter, £1,780)
THE ORMER GATHERER 13/2 10.09 Alice Bond (5)
ALLEGRO JETE 6/4 10.07 Victoria Malzard
FLASHY APACHE 5/1 10.05 Charlotte Jones
CLEAR MAN 8/1 10.02 Reece Senior (7)
AGAPANTHER 9/1 10.10 Paddy Barlow (3)
CASARUAN 11/2 9.09 Raul Da Silva
SHE’S A MIRAGE 5/2 10.12 Fred Tett
TOUCHING HANDS 7/2 10.06 Laura Coughlan
JERSEY SKY 18/1 9.05 Molly Gunn
