Golden Lilac
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Golden Lilac is an Irish-bred, French-trained
Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
racehorse. She won her first six races including the
Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) ...
and the
Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is one of the most important and prestigious Group 1 horse races in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at C ...
as a three-year-old in 2011. In May 2012, she defeated
Cirrus des Aigles Cirrus des Aigles (foaled 8 May 2006) is a retired French Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career which lasted from October 2008 until December 2015 he raced in France, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. After racing ...
to win the
Prix d'Ispahan The Prix d'Ispahan is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,850 metres (about 1 mile and 1¼ furlongs), ...
.


Background

Golden Lilac is a bay filly with a narrow white blaze. She was bred in Ireland by the German-based Ammerland Stud. Golden Lilac was sent into training with André Fabre and has been ridden in most of her races by
Maxime Guyon Maxime Guyon (born 7 May 1989 in Laval, Mayenne) is a French flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) ov ...
. She was sired by The Derby winner Galileo out of Grey Lilas, a mare who won the
Prix du Moulin The Prix du Moulin de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is s ...
in 2004.


Racing career


2010: two-year-old season

Golden Lilac made her first appearance in a maiden race at Saint-Cloud on 8 September. She started favourite and won by a neck from Elusive Eria. She returned to the same track in October to win a minor stakes race by two lengths from Rosehill Dew.


2011: three-year-old season

Golden Lilac made her three-year-old debut in the Group Three Prix de la Grotte at Longchamp in April. She was settled in fourth place by Guyon before taking the lead in the closing stages and winning "comfortably" by one and a half lengths. In winning the Prix de la Grotte, she emulated her dam, Grey Lilas, who took the same race in 2004. Three weeks later, the filly returned to Longchamp for the Group One Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, the French equivalent of Britain's
1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile ...
. Ridden by
Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier (born 12 January 1973 in Château-Gontier) is a French thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races. From 2003 to 2014, he wa ...
(Guyon was unavailable because of a suspension) she went clear in the straight and won by three lengths from Glorious Sight. Her performance was described as "dominating" by
The Blood-Horse ''The Blood-Horse'' (also referred to simply as ''Blood-Horse'' and displayed on its nameplate in upright all-capital letters without hyphenation as BLOODHORSE) is a news magazine that originated in 1916 as a monthly bulletin of the Thoroughbred ...
correspondent. In June, Golden Lilac was matched against the highly regarded Galikova in the Prix de Diane over 2100m at Longchamp. As in some of earlier races, Golden Lilac pulled hard in the early stages before being settled by Guyon. She took the lead in the straight and held off the challenge of Galikova to win by a length. After a break of more than two months, Golden Lilac returned to the racecourse in the
Prix Guillaume d'Ornano The Prix Guillaume d'Ornano is a Conditions races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Deauville-La Touques Racecourse, Deauvi ...
at Deauville. She started favourite but lost her unbeaten record, finishing third to Galikova. Golden Lilac did run again in 2011. At the end of the year, Golden Lilac was voted Champion three-year-old filly by French journalists. In the 2011
World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...
, Golden Lilac was ranked the eighth best three-year-old filly in the world.


2012: four-year-old season

Golden Lilac made her first appearance in more than nine months when she contested the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp on 27 May. Starting at odds of 4.3/1, she pulled hard in the early stages before being moved up by Guyon to take the lead in the closing stages with a "potent turn of foot". She ran on strongly to win by three quarters of a length from the odds on favourite
Cirrus des Aigles Cirrus des Aigles (foaled 8 May 2006) is a retired French Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career which lasted from October 2008 until December 2015 he raced in France, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. After racing ...
. After the race, Fabre described the win as "probably her best performance" and mentioned the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the
Prix Jacques Le Marois The Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run in August each year at Deauville over a distance of ...
as possible future targets. Golden Lilac made her next appearance in the
Falmouth Stakes The Falmouth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile ( ...
at Newmarket on 13 July. She started 10/11 favourite but ran poorly, finishing ninth of the ten runners behind Giofra. Fabre claimed that Golden Lilac was unsuited by the soft ground. Golden Lilac returned to France for the
Prix Rothschild The Prix Rothschild is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and ...
at
Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...
for which she started 7/10 favourite. She finished second behind the English-trained three-year-old Elusive Kate, who led from the start and won by one and three quarter lengths. Golden Lilac ran again at Deauville in August when she raced against colts in the
Prix Jacques Le Marois The Prix Jacques Le Marois is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged three years or older. It is run in August each year at Deauville over a distance of ...
. She finished seventh of the eleven runners behind Excelebration. Golden Lilac's connections were considering a run in the
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...
when she fell ill in September and was retired to stud.


Pedigree


References

{{reflist Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in France 2008 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 1-e