Pierre-Charles Boudot, France’s reigning champion jockey on the Flat, was charged with rape on Wednesday by French prosecutors investigating allegations made by a female work-rider after a party during a race meeting at Cagnes-sur-Mer in February.
Pierre Bazire, also a jockey, faces a charge of failing to report a crime in connection with the same allegations, while an unnamed individual was also listed, along with Bazire, as a “witness to intimidation of a witness”.
A statement issued by the office of the public prosecutor in Senlis, which includes France’s major racing centre at Chantilly, said that Boudot had been released on bail of €50,000 [£43,000] and is barred from entering the department of Oise, of which Senlis is a part, under the bail conditions. He had been remanded in custody to assist with the investigation since Monday.
Boudot won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Waldgeist in 2019 and won the French Flat jockeys’ title in 2015, 2016 and 2020. He set what was at the time a new record for winners in a season in France with 300 victories in 2016, and rode a double on the main card at last season’s Breeders’ Cup meeting in Kentucky on Aidan O’Brien’s Order Of Australia and Audarya for James Fanshawe after the original jockeys booked for both horses tested positive for Covid-19.
It was unclear on Wednesday evening whether France Galop, racing’s ruling body in France, would respond to the news of the charges against the champion jockey, or move to suspend Boudot from riding until the investigation is complete. He had been expected to ride O’Brien’s colt St Mark’s Basilica, the probable favourite, in the Poule D’Essai Des Poulains, the French 2,000 Guineas, at Longchamp on Sunday.
Snowfall second favourite for Oaks
Snowfall is the new second-favourite for the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom next month after making all the running under Ryan Moore to win the Musidora Stakes at York on Wednesday.
Moore was gifted an easy lead by his six rivals, including Teona and Noon Star, second and third in the ante-post Oaks betting before Wednesday’s trial, and made the most of the opportunity as Snowfall found an extra gear when sent for home two furlongs out.
Aidan O’Brien, Snowfall’s trainer, confirmed after the race that Snowfall will now join her stable companion Santa Barbara, fourth home in the 1,000 Guineas, at Epsom on 4 June. She is top-priced at 6-1 for the Classic with Santa Barbara heading the market at 5-2, while Roger Varian’s Teona, who was making her seasonal debut on Wednesday, is 10-1 to reverse the form. Zeyaadah, Varian’s Chester Oaks winner last week, is also 10-1 and it is 14-1 bar the four.
“We always thought the world of her last year but things just didn’t work for her,” O’Brien said. “On pedigree she was always going to be suited by a step up in trip and Ryan gave her a lovely ride.”
Starman floundered on very soft ground when fancied for the Champions Sprint at Ascot in October but Ed Walker’s colt will get another chance to run in Group One company after taking the Duke Of York Stakes on his first start of the season.
“He’s some beast,” Walker said. “That was a mind-blowing performance. Oisin [Murphy, his jockey] was pretty speechless and we’re really excited. [The plan is] Ascot and the Diamond Jubilee.”
High Definition on Derby trial in Dante
Bolshoi Ballet stormed to the head of the Derby betting over the weekend but his stable companion High Definition, the ante-post favourite throughout the winter, has the chance to reaffirm his own Classic credentials in the Dante Stakes at York on Thursday.
The blood-test issues which ruled him out of Lingfield five days ago are presumably behind him, but High Definition is up against several very promising colts including Mark Johnston’s Gear Up (3.10), a Group One winner at Saint-Cloud in October.
High Definition may prove to be the best colt in Thursday’s field in time. Gear Up battled admirably to win from the front on heavy ground in France, however, and will give the favourite’s fitness a thorough examination.
York 1.40 Copper Knight is without a win in 17 starts since July 2019, but his mark has dropped from 106 to 85 as a result. He took a step back in the right direction behind a peak-form Jabbarockie at Chester last time and four of his eight career victories have come over Thursday’s track and trip.
York 2.10 Queen Power and Passion dominate the betting but the former has failed to make the most of similar opportunities in the past while Passion’s most recent win came over an extra four furlongs. That leaves Jessica Harrington’s Silence Please as an obvious alternative as she looks to maintain the steady progress during her three-year-old career.
Salisbury 2.25 Just seven runners but a fascinating three-year-old handicap with several lightly-raced types that may already be pencilled in for Royal Ascot. Wahraan was a big eye-catcher behind Lord Protector last time but the time of their race at Windsor was nothing special and both look short enough in the betting. Lightening Shore is more interesting at around 10-1, having looked like a step up to Thursday’s trip would suit when second on his latest run.
Quick Guide
Greg Wood’s Thursday tips
Perth 1.00 Bright Eyed Eagle 1.30 Khanmurjan 2.00 Ask Dillon 2.30 Kajaki 3.00 Roxboro Road 3.30 Hooroo 4.00 Brotherly Company 4.30 Rubytwo
Salisbury 1.15 Jastar 1.50 Military Mission 2.25 Lightening Shore 2.55 Pennymoor 3.25 Pretty Fair 3.55 Soapy Stevens 4.25 Youllovemewheniwin 4.55 Parikarma
York 1.40 Copper Knight 2.10 Silence Please 2.40 Mostawaa (nap) 3.10 Gear Up 3.40 Winter Power (nb) 4.15 Secret Strength 4.50 Polish
Fontwell Park 4.45 Baron Nelson 5.20 Eglantine Du Seuil 5.55 Nye Bevan 6.30 Shantou Flyer 7.05 Northern Bound 7.40 Shareef Star 8.10 Eavesdropping
Newmarket 5.00 Serena’s Queen 5.30 Desert Dreamer 6.05 Danni California 6.40 Aaddeey 7.15 Movin Time 7.50 Grand Scheme 8.20 Alabama Boy
York 2.40 As ever, there are plenty in with chances in this year’s Hambleton Handicap, but the front-running Mostawaa has drawn well in stall four and has Silvestre de Sousa in the saddle for only the third time in his career. The former champion has finished first and third on Heather Main’s gelding on their previous outings and 16-1 looks more than fair.
York 3.40 On the face of it, Acklam Express put up a remarkable performance to finish third in the Group One Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in Dubai last time out, not least as he was racing alone for much of the final quarter-mile. Final Song, the runner-up there, did nothing to frank the form in Wednesday’s Duke Of York, however, and Winter Power looks the more solid proposition at around 11-4 to build on his impressive success in the Cornwallis Stakes on his final juvenile start.