French foray awaits Zanthos as ParisLongchamp favoured over Newmarket
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sun 19 Apr 2026
Zanthos is set to sidestep the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in favour of the French equivalent the following weekend.
An impressive winner on her July course debut last summer, Simon and Ed Crisford’s filly was beaten by the Owen Burrows-trained Touleen on her second start at Leicester, but reversed that form when rounding off her juvenile campaign with a Group Two victory in the Rockfel Stakes.
With a cold spring preventing connections from running Zanthos in a trial she will bid for Classic glory on her first start as a three-year-old, but that is more likely to be in the Poule d’Essai de Pouliches at ParisLongchamp than over the Rowley Mile.
Ed Crisford said: “I think she’ll go straight to France. We’re thinking France more than Newmarket, just because the mile at Newmarket does take some getting and I think France will suit her well.
“Obviously we’ve had cool weather, it hasn’t quite hit proper spring yet and a lot of the fillies are just taking their time to come. She’s one of them, but she’s getting there and we just felt she needed a little bit longer.
“She seems in good order and with each week she seems to be progressing nicely.”
The Crisfords enjoyed a very fruitful Dubai Carnival with Quddwah winning twice and finishing second to Ombusdman on World Cup night.
“He’s in great order, he came back from Dubai just last week and is settling back in well,” said Crisford.
“There are no immediate plans for him. We’ll look for something from the middle to the end of May, but we’re not sure what yet.
“The Lockinge is an option, but it’s probably unlikely. You’ve got the Prix d’Ispahan around the same time so we could look at something like that, but we’ll just be seeing how he is after the Dubai trip and start making plans in early May.”
Meydaan proved a revelation once switched to dirt, finishing third in the World Cup itself.
“It was obviously only his second run on dirt, so to finish third behind the best dirt horse in the world over that distance and a very good American dirt horse was very, very pleasing,” said Crisford.
“For Meydaan he’s making that transition from turf to dirt, so the style of racing is all very new to him.
“I doubt he’ll be running on turf again and he’ll have a break now. He was busy last year and had a busy winter so he he deserves a break and we’ll just aim him back at the UAE next year.
“He’ll be busy enough next winter as you’ve got Saudi (Arabia), the World Cup and Maktoum Challenges, so we’ll probably just aim him back there next year.”
Fairy Glen won the Dubai Gold Cup but is likely to drop in trip.
Crisford said: “She’s back and she’s in good order. We were obviously very pleased with her and she’s a very versatile filly trip-wise.
“She improved throughout the winter no end, she’s a really nice filly to have for this summer.
“Potentially we’ll look something like the at the Middleton at York, but she’s got all sorts of options and nothing is set in stone.”
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