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France Prix de Diane, Fillies Classic, Set For This Sunday at Chantilly Track I : By Godolphin Darley .PARIS, France. With the world recovering from the suspense at Epsom, after the Derby, the Coronation Cup and the Oaks, the big event in Europe is the Prix de Diane at Chantilly on Sunday. This fillies classic is at one mile and five-sixteenths. The I equivalent event at E Whereas the English event dates from 1779, the Prix de Diane was run for the first time in 1843 at Chantilly at the present distance. Sportsmen who have visited Chantilly will agree that the race-course there is a tougher one than the Downs course at Ep- quarters of a mile include a stiff grade throughout the last turn and the horses have to be up with the leaders if they are to figure in the finish. The Chantilly course requires both great speed and true stamina. Several of our best three -year-old fillies went to Epsom. That leaves a field of about 15 in the Prix de Diane out of a total of 406 fillies entered in November, 1951. Chief contestants are the first three in the one mile Poule dEssai des Pouliches run on May 16. In that top event Francois Dupres Virgule was a neck in front of Madame J. Couturies Tahiti, with the Aga Khans Baghicheh third, by a length and a half. New bidders for the seasons supremacy among the fillies are Marcel Boussacs Cordova," Altana and Albanilla; Auguste Dau-bins Haridelle, who won brilliantly in the Prix Vanteaux with Virgule third. Our favorite is Baron Guy de Rothschilds Vieille Pierre, who will be assisted by Alba Nox. The latter ranked in the Free Handicap one pound better than her stablemate who did not figure this season in her two starts. Veille Pierre was an easy winner and appears to be a true three-year-old. Last Sunday at Longchamp the Prix Lupin at one mile and five-sixteenths was run. This feature is the last of the series of "in utero" stakes for three-year-olds in the spring and is considered, rightly enough, a trial for the Prix du Jockey Club two weeks later, next week end. A total of 1,553 mares in foal were named in 1950. There were 1,173 eligibles in October 1951. With 5,000 added and a field of 14, the share to the winner was 0,000, less a few cents. The start was somewhat confused, as a result of which the time for the first sixteenth was recorded as .10. However, once the pacema"ker Mondragon, acting for Cote dOr JX, winner of the Poule dEssai des Poulains, came to the fore the pace became hot and the next half mile, including the stiff uphill to ttie far Porte de Boulogne, was covered in 48.10. Mondragon was followed at first by Monceaux, "Beg Meil and San Giusto, but soon Falstaff, off badly, was in second position with Beg Meil, Monceaux, Sica Boy, San Giusto, Hidalgo and Florin next. At the bottom of the hill, the pacemaker cracked as Falstaff forced the pace, followed by Monceaux, Sica Boy, San Giusto, Beg Meil and Florin. Entering the stretch, Sica Boy displayed a wonderful turn of foot and drew away to win by two and one-half lengths. Closing fast, Cote dOr n. was second, with Florin third by a head. Beigler Boy, not too lucky in the run home, was a good fourth and Malatesta was fifth, with Falstaff a head away, sixth. Sica Boy, and by Sunny Boy, was sold during the winter for 5,000, now is owned by Madame Jean Cochery. He was bred by R. Johner, trained by Pierre Pelat and ridden in his usual masterful manner by W. Ray Johnstone. The final time was 2:13.10, the last mile and a quarter being covered in 2:03.10. Remarkably enough, the Kentucky Derby was run this .year in 2:03. The mile track at Churchill Downs is not to be compared with the clockwise hilly turf course at Longchamp and nobody knows whether one track is much faster than the other. Since we insist that the top French events are thoroughly contested from end to end, and since the fact is not too well known among American sportsmen, we are giving the split times of Determine and Sica Boy. The Derby was run in :23, :47, 1:12, 1:37" and 2:03, with the quarters run in :23, :24I5, :24, :25 and :26. At Longchamp, disregarding the first sixteenth, the Prix Lupin quarters were :23.90, :24.20 :24.52, :25.32 and :25.16. The comparison shows that despite the uphill climb at the start, over here, the running at both tracks was very much the same, with similar consistency of speed from the beginning. The French colts lost a second during the first mile but almost psom, the Oaks, is at a mile and a half. made it up in the final quarter. Were the tracks equal for speed one would say that the final dash of the French Sica Boy at Longchamp was over five lengths faster than the finish of Determine at Churchill Downs. Of course, it remains to be known whether a Sica Boy would have been able to remain close enough to a Hasty Road and a Determine and then develop such a rush to the wire as he did at Longchamp. Weights carried were 126 pounds in the U. S. and 128 pounds in France. As mentioned, the winner changed owners a few months ago. A second Cote dOr n. was purchased in February for 0,000. In his previous attempt to the Prix Hoc-quart, Sica Boy was second by five lengths to Prince Rouge, who was offered for sale at 0,000 late last fall. These three colts are among the best of the generation and it tends to prove that the French market is a selling one. Unfortunately, Prince Rouge was badly cut in his last start and will be idle for several months. This sort of mishap explains why the small French owners are pleased to pass on even their best. In the Free Handicap, Sica Boy was ranked sixth, Cote dOr II. 12th and Prince Rouge 14th. Other recent stake winners were R. B. Strassburgers excellent three-year-old filly La Praix by Seven Seas and E. Martinez de Hozs, Gerocourt. La Praix took the Prix Edgard de la Charme, one mile and a quarter, from some good colts. Gerocourt, by Fastnet, is a six-year-old horse of great speed. In the Prix dHarcourt, one mile and five-sixteenths, the split time shows that" tactics decided the result in favor of Gerocourt against his three top rivals, Otto, Ti Moun and Cosmos. Jockey Fred Palmer set Gerocourt to a false pace for the first half-mile in : 55.28. Then he let his horse go. The next three quarters were covered in : 22.88; : 23.64 and : 24.34, with the final sixteenth, breezing, in .6.04. The opponents were incapable of making up completely at. the finish the six-lengths lead gained half-way through by Gerocourt. The final three-sixteenths were covered in 1: 16.90, a fraction faster than the track record. Notes: Saliva tests have been made at Longchamp in every race since the start of the season. The new rule now makes the trainer responsible in a case of doping whether or not the drug was administered to his order. . .Public announcing is being tried at Le Tremblay and Auteuil. Special permission will have to be given for Auteuil and Longchamp as the Bois de Boulogne rulings prohibit loud speakers. . .Racing for two-year-olds, other than claiming races, started on May 22. This season the rule allows two-year-old racing, other than claiming, to start at the beginning of May-instead of the third week in May. . .The Saint Cloud grandstands are to be taken down in July and new ones will be erected. During the rebuilding, the Saint Cloud racing will be conducted at Longchamp, Le Tremblay and Maisons-Laffitte, alternately.
