Of the three horses that will represent the Marseille-based stable at Royal Ascot, Jerome Reynier's Facteur Cheval has the Queen Anne in his sights.
The previous season, the gelding demonstrated remarkable consistency, but it struggled to secure a win in several Group events. It finished as the runner-up in the Prix du Muget, the Sussex Stakes, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, and finished third after losing by a tiny margin in the Prix d'Ispahan and the Prix du Moulin.
When he finally made a comeback to action in late March at Meydan on the Dubai Turf, his dependability paid off handsomely as he struck at 20-1.
Facteur Cheval will return to Ascot to compete in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile when the Royal meeting gets underway in less than three weeks, having run twice outside of his native France last season.
“He is aiming for the Queen Anne on Tuesday, he came back in very good shape from Dubai. We’re very happy with him,” Reynier said. “Now he’s going to try to win a second time in a row after having not won for a long while. We don’t have any questions about good ground because he won on it in Dubai, and he’s done the straight course at Ascot for the Queen Elizabeth so everything seems to be in good shape for him.”
Darlinghurst, a three-year-old Dark Angel colt who has made four starts this year without an issue, will travel with him.
The bay first won two races at Cagnes-Sur-Mer to advance to the Listed level, when it triumphed in the Prix Maurice Caillault at Chantilly in March. Later in the season, it returned to the same course to win the Group Three Prix de Guiche in May.
He now has an entry in the St. James's Palace Stakes, which is scheduled for the same day as the Queen Anne bid of his stablemate.
Zarakem, the third horse scheduled to go from France, is hoping to bounce back from his Prix Ganay loss and regain the form that saw him upset Horizon Dore to win the Prix d'Harcourt in April.