Marquand and Soumillon full of praise for Ballydoyle heroes

Top jockeys Tom Marquand and Christophe Soumillon are excited for the future of Betfred St Leger winner Scandinavia and Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes hero Delacroix following their Group One victories on Saturday.

Both riders are being utilised by Ballydoyle following the leg injury that has ruled Ryan Moore out of action for the foreseeable future, and they took full advantage. They spoke about their respective victories to Nick Luck on the weekly Luck On Sunday show.

Scandinavia was sent off the 2-1 favourite for the St Leger at Doncaster and dug deep for a second top-level win of the year, the Goodwood Cup winner prevailing by a diminishing neck from Rahiebb in the final British Classic of the season.

Marquand said: “He was super tough; all his best attributes were shown for the world to see.

“Obviously, class had to be there in abundance to get through that last furlong or two - it was a long way home – but it was a big performance from him.

“He just kept pulling out a bit more and it felt like you probably would have seen a better version of him on nicer ground.”

Aidan O’Brien had revealed earlier in the week that he would use Marquand, Sean Levey and Mickael Barzalona in the contest in which he also saddled Stay True and Lambourn (who eventually finished third and fourth), but the jockeys only learnt which horse would be their mount after the declarations were made.

Marquand explained: “All three of those horses had a good chance going into the race and, to be quite frank, it was it was one of those where I don't think myself, Sean or Mickael would have been disappointed with whatever we were put aboard.

“But it was lovely to ride Scandinavia because I'd kept a real close eye on him after riding him as a two-year-old at Newmarket over a mile and I knew he was always going to be all about the future over staying trips.

"Even when I rode him at Newmarket, he was a big, beautiful, flashy horse - he just hadn't quite filled his frame yet. Whereas now, he really is a stunning type, he's filled into himself and, mentally, he's been a bit of a revelation this year.

"Taking on those older horses at Goodwood and then doing what he did yesterday; he's a special horse."

Fellow substitute Soumillion enjoyed even more success for the Ballydoyle team over in Ireland, including facile victories on leading two-year-olds Diamond Necklace and Benvenuto Cellini.

The brilliant Belgian rider was most impressed with the turn of foot shown once more by Delacroix as he added the Irish Champion to his Coral-Eclipse win earlier in the campaign.

Soumillon praised the professionalism of the son of Dubawi, as he explained: “He showed me a great energy and going down the track, he was really concentrated.

“I was very confident just before I entered the gate - unfortunately, he was a little bit naughty in there - but straight when the gates opened, he jumped like a rocket.

“From there, he did everything I asked him to do easily. He really amazed me the way he was able to settle down and able to quicken like he did because I spoke a lot with Ryan and Aidan about his previous races - there was always a flat spot with him - but there wasn't this time.

“When I asked him to quicken at the three-furlong marker, he just responded straight away. I was quite amazed that he was able to pass everyone."

Soumillon’s instinctive race-winning move to skip around stablemate Mount Kilimanjaro and head to the stand-side rail attracted plenty of praise, but he revealed that it was not pre-planned.

He said: “We saw that the track was a bit better in the straight going to the outside and I didn't want to take any risks with him, but when I saw that the Japanese horse Shin Emperor didn't cruise very well in the turn, I knew he was not going to bring me through.

“At that point, I knew that Chris Hayes [rider of eventual second Anmaat] was just behind me and I wanted to make the cut and go forward to make sure my horse was able to sprint.That's exactly what he did.”

While Soumillon praised the horse’s professionalism and ability, he also revealed that the horse’s exuberant nature nearly got him in trouble.

He said: “He's full of energy. I was trying to hold him straight for the picture and he gave me a little kick in the leg. Nothing bad, but he's an amazing horse. He looks a bit like me when I was younger!

"He will calm down with the age and he has everything to become a good stallion. He has an amazing pedigree, and he looks amazing.”

Soumillon rode the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained Almanzor to win both the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes back in 2016 and believes that a similar programme could prove ideal for Delacroix who could face a rematch with Eclipse runner-up Ombudsman if heading to Ascot next month.

Soumillon said: “The way he showed his turn of foot at Sandown in the Eclipse was just something unbelievable and I've never seen a horse be able to catch a superstar [Ombudsman] on the line like he did.

“Yesterday, he just confirmed that he's probably one of the best horses in Europe at the moment.

“I think they are the two stars that everybody would love to see at Ascot in a few weeks' time for a big clash.

"The natural race for him next will be the Champions Stakes. There are so many good horses who won the Irish Champions Stakes and did the double over there.

"Aidan knows his horse much better than me and if Delacroix shows he's still very fresh and happy – like how he was when I saw him last week - then that looks to be the best race for him, but I'm not going to decide that.

"That's what the Coolmore team will decide - I'm just there to ride the horses.”