Popular trainer Philippe Vigouroux was thrilled with the pay cheque but was still left to ponder “what might have been” with Lemaire after the $500,000 Four Pillars Midway at Rosehill.
Philippe watched on in both ecstasy and agony as the luckless Lemaire rocketed to the line to finish third in the rich 1500-metre feature race on October 29.
The son of Kooringal Stud’s prolific winner-getting stallion Zariz was held up at a vital stage in the straight before jockey Willie Pike secured a late run on the rails.
“He was very unlucky … the jockey was not happy after the race,” said Philippe, who co-trains with his wife Tara at Hawkesbury.
The five-year-old is raced by Kooringal Stud along with Philippe and a group of stable clients.
Lemaire picked up $47,500 for his efforts while the winner Oakfield Arrow collected $287,000.
“The prizemoney was outstanding but could even have been better,” Philippe lamented.
“He is a nice horse and I was confident he would be up to that type of race.
“There were so many people who were happy for us … I don’t know what they would have said if we had won.
“It gives you a good feeling.”
Zariz did a remarkable job at stud before his passing in 2018.
The son of Mukadammah has sired 363 individual winners, including the Group 1 South Australian Derby hero Lazer Sharp.
Philippe is a staunch supporter of Kooringal Stud and also a big fan of Zariz.
“At one stage I had seven horses by Zariz but the number is getting down,” he said.
“It’s now time to look to the future and in a couple of weeks I will be picking up a youngster I bred by Prized Icon.”
It was a big weekend for Lemaire’s dam Testalina, who produced Lady Kah to win on Goulburn Cup Day on October 30.
Lady Kah’s stylish performance (see pictured) followed her debut win at the same track in early October.
The daughter of Duporth was secured by the Longmire twins Emma and Lucy in Kooringal’s inaugural lnglis Digital online sale in December 2020 at a bargain price of $9500 considering she has already earned more than $40,000 in prizemoney.