It is fair to say that the 2018 season for Chantilly-based trainer Alain de Royer Dupré would not be his most memorable, even though Vazirabad’s third successive victory in the Dubai Gold Cup holds very fond memories for the man who looks after the majority of HH the Aga Khan’s horses, writes Liz Price.
The 2019 season is looking much more positive with a promising bunch of three-year-olds, of which many have already made an impression on the racecourse. He had high hopes for the unbeaten but still unexposed Siyarafina, but she didn’t convince in her last work and the decision against supplementing her in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches was made accordingly.
Alain de Royer Dupré, who has won the majority of French Group 1 races not once but several times, is known to give his horses time to come to their best and the last word has certainly not been spoken in the case of Siyarafina who also holds entries in the Prix Saint-Alary and the Prix de Diane Longines.