Mr Satchmo will continue his path towards a spring campaign in Australia when he contests the Group 3 Grand Prix de Vichy in France on Wednesday night (5:30am Thursday AEST).
With showers forecast for Vichy today, the five-year-old is expected to perform well and relish racing on the softer ground, over 2000m.
Whilst his spring targets are yet to be determined, OTI’s CEO Terry Henderson confirmed plans for Mr Satchmo to make his way over to Australia in the coming months. “We’ll watch his next run or two in France and then make that decision”, he said.
OTI purchased 50% of Mr Satchmo as a three-year-old and have raced him in partnership with a group of French owners. One of whom owns a French Champagne house, Charles Legend, which comes in handy for the winning celebrations.
And there have been many celebrations with Mr Satchmo, whose consistent career has taken connections around the world. His career highlights include running 2nd in the Group 1 Qatar Derby in 2018 and winning four Listed races in France. Most recently, the grey gelding impressed in his last start, running 3rd in the Group 3 La Coupe at Longchamp.
OTI has had a long-standing relationship with French trainer Antoine de Watrigant, who is based in Mont-de-Marsan. Most notably, the pair experienced spring success together when they won the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes with Gailo Chop in 2015.
We look forward to Mr Satchmo’s future and wish all connections the best of luck.