Sixpence, Strauss fail to keep up in Prix Jacques le Marois

Yasuda Kinen champion Sixpence finished dead last in the Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois in an unexpected result for the JRA at Deauville on Sunday (16 August).

In his first start outside Japan, the Yutaka Take-ridden Sixpence was 10th out of 10 in the French Grade 1, 1,600-meter race as 3-year-old Irish-bred Rayif held off Zeus Olympios by a neck to win his second top-level title.

Rayif’s winning time was 1 minute, 35.50 seconds on going listed as good to soft. Sixpence’s compatriot Strauss placed one above him in ninth - 12 lengths in front.

Take - who rode the Prix Jacques le Marois for his sixth time, his first aboard a Japanese horse - was left shaking his head following the lopsided performance from the 5-year-old son of Kizuna, who he steered to 2013 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) glory.

Seven runners from Japan have taken a crack at the Prix Jacques le Marois, producing one winner - Taiki Shuttle in 1998.

“He got off to a nice start and I thought he felt good but he stopped responding halfway through,” Take said.

“It was a difficult race for him. He was calm in the paddock and warmed up fine although I was a bit worried about him there. But in hindsight, I think he may have been a bit too calm. Disappointing we couldn’t come through for all the support but we will keep trying.”

Sixpence’s trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka could not pin down what went wrong on the afternoon. His horse and the Ryo Takei-trained Strauss tried to push the race along the outer railing but to little avail.

Said Tanaka, “He started the race fine and went to the outside as it was expected. I can’t say with absolute certainty if the going had something to do with it, or if it was his condition. But I’ve been told that after warming up he was struggling with his breathing a bit, and that is something we obviously need to look into because clearly, not all was well ahead of the race.

“He led with his right foot the entire time which is a concern. It was his first time in a straight race, and I’m taking it personally that we couldn’t do a better job getting him ready. It’s disappointing.”

Strauss, also 5, was eyeing his maiden G1 victory. Although he fared better than Sixpence, the Maurice son, under Joao Moreira, was not even close. Strauss has run all four of his races in 2026 overseas, including Sydney, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.

“He got excited during the trip as he usually does but then managed to settle and I thought he traveled pretty well,” Moreira recalled.

“But when I gave the green light with two and a furlongs to go he didn’t respond at all. Looking at the other races most of the winners were coming up the middle so that’s where I was hoping we could be.

“Yet once we broke and knowing what type of racehorse he is, we took the position we did. It is possible he ran the way he did because we traveled on the outside but I thought it was our only option. He has talent, and I think he’s more than capable of winning some big races down the road.”

Takei believes it had a lot to do with the tricky track conditions.

“In the end, we left it in the hands of the jockey. We told him there was no horse to mark, etc,” said the trainer.

“Speaking to the European jockeys, they said the turf was nice on the outside but soft. On the inside, dry but beat up. So we had a choice to make and we left it up to Joao.

“As things turned out, we should have gone down the middle. Joao had our horse right behind Sixpence to save him for the stretch, but he told us he didn’t quicken fast enough, which we like to think the going had something to do with it.”

Official Result

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