Lord kills off Chantilly foes

Karl Burke's Lord Shanakill gained the first Group One success of his career in the Etihad Airways Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly.Jim Crowley kicked on with a furlong and a half to run and although Christophe Lemaire looked threatening on Oiseau De Feu, he could not get past Lord Shanakill who stuck his neck out for a deserved victory.Crowley said: "The race didn't quite go to plan - we could have done with a stronger pace really but he's very good. He's probably the most consistent horse around."Burke added: "On the betting here he went out to something like 11-1 and I thought that was an amazing price as we felt we were coming here with a favourite's chance, we really did."It is my first Group One winner and it does so much for the horse's CV so we are really delighted. I tried to get him a Group One in the Dewhurst when he was second last year, then he had a bad preparation for the Guineas and he ran no race. The Prix Jacques le Marois is a possibility and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood."Burke will run the gamut of emotions over the next couple of days after this career pinnacle. Looming large over the Middleham trainer's head is the verdict of a long-running British Horseracing Authority investigation into corruption, which is expected to be known this week. Burke admitted: "At times it has been hard to concentrate, but if anything it helps because I have just been putting all my efforts into the job and doing what I can do best. I have just tried to block it out." With trainer Nicky Henderson last week receiving a three-month ban on sending out runners and a heavy fine for administering a banned anti-bleeding drug in the Moonlit Path case, Burke remains sangfroid about the possibilities. "Who knows?" he said. "We'll get the results on Monday. They (BHA) have set their stall out with bans and fines in the last week and we will have to see what their position is for offering opinions." Aidan O'Brien's Westphalia ran far too freely in taking fifth and rider Jimmy Fortune reported: "He was just too keen. The first-time blinkers set him alight and you can't do it at both ends of the race."