The Prix de Diane is the main aim for Thursday’s impressive Saint-Cloud winner Pensee Du Jour (Ire), according to Anthony Stroud, who manages the interests of the Camelot (GB) filly’s owners, Ballymore Thoroughbreds.
Carrying the silks of owner-breeder Diane Wildenstein, Pensee Du Jour made all of the running to win the Rose De Mai S. by seven lengths, with Stroud explaining the significance of the victory shortly afterwards.
He said of the ‘TDN Rising Star’, “Funnily enough, they [the Wildenstein family] started out in racing back in 1923 so this is the hundred-year anniversary-it’s a very significant year.”
The significance does not end there. Pensee Du Jour hails from a deep family that has been nurtured for generations by the Wildensteins. The homebred is from the family of the outstanding Peintre Celebre, who carried Daniel Wildenstein’s colours to a host of big-race successes, including victory in the 1997 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Group 1 targets now await Pensee Du Jour, who made it two wins from as many outings on Thursday, and will warm up for a tilt at the Prix de Diane by running in the G3 Prix Penelope back at Saint-Cloud next month.
Stroud said, “She is potentially very good–a nice filly. Hopefully, depending on how she comes out of this race, she will run in the G3 Prix Penelope in three weeks. The ultimate aim is the Prix de Diane.”
Asked why Pensee Du Jour did not run as a 2-year-old, he replied, “She is a big filly and was a bit backward last year. As well as that, the ground was quite hard last summer, so we just took our time with her.
“She couldn’t have won any easier today–we just wish the races were a bit faster for her and that there was more pace in the race. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have to make her own running.”
Diane Wildenstein was in attendance at Saint-Cloud to witness Pensee Du Jour make light work of her rivals and confirm herself a top-notch prospect.
Stroud continued, “The filly hasn’t done it yet, she still has to go and do it, but everyone works so hard–the people at the stud and in the racing stables–to produce good racehorses. “Everyone who is into breeding and racing racehorses, that’s what their aim is, and that’s what we are in this game to do.”
He added, “It’s a combination of an awful lot of hard work from an awful amount of people. She couldn’t have done more than she’s done and we’ll find out a bit more on the next step.”
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