Louisa Carberry makes it a famous treble after Gran Diose lands Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris in a thriller

Louisa Carberry put herself firmly in the pantheon of French jump racing after Gran Diose edged a thrilling renewal of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, the English-born trainer's third success in five years. 

Clement Lefebvre was left in front with almost two-thirds of the 3m6f Grade 1 contest to run after the favourite, the James Reveley-ridden Juntos Ganamos, misjudged the Gros Open Ditch first time round. 

From there Gran Diose shared the running with Grandeur Nature and with two left to jump it looked as though it would be Arnaud Chaille-Chaille's contender who would take his measure, just as he had in the Grade 1 Prix la Haye Jousselin last November.

But Lefebvre had kept a bit up his sleeve and Gran Diose picked up after the last to score by a neck, with General En Chef filling third place for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm in the colours of British-based owner Andy Peake. 

"What's great is that this guy is completely different to my other winner, Docteur De Ballon, physically and as a character, plus it's wonderful to win this race for two different owner-breeders," said Carberry, whose husband and assistant Philip also won the Grand Steeple-Chase twice as a jockey aboard Princesse D'Anjou. 

"Docteur was a small chestnut with a great turn of foot, while he's a huge horse with a great jump and a heart as big as he is."

Gran Diose has made gradual progress this season, having finished fifth to Juntos Ganamos in the Prix Troytown and third behind Youtwo Glass in the Prix Murat, both over much shorter trips. 

"We planned to sit behind the leaders and I was a bit worried when we lost Juntos Ganamos, as Gran Diose can lose confidence at his obstacles if he's out on his own for two long," said Carberry. "But Clement filled him up with confidence in letting Grandeur Nature come alongside.

Clement Lefebvre celebrates victory aboard Gran Diose in the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris

"Today has been the sole objective and a lot of commentators and journalists said he wasn't the same horse as last year, but my jockey listened to me when I told him that everything was leading up to May 19 and not one day before." 

Philip Carberry, whose elder brother Paul was among the happy band on hand to witness the historic success, said he and Louisa had really begun to believe that Gran Diose was coming to the boil in the last fortnight.

"This is not supposed to happen," said Carberry. "You get inspired by the older jockeys and trainers like Fred Winter and Andre Fabre that have done these things. It’s just a dream. The last two weeks we began to believe he might do it."

Clement Lefebvre and co-owner/breeder Frederic Hinderze after Gran Diose's Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris victory

Frederic Hinderze, who bred Gran Diose with sports agent Luc Monnet, said the winner had repaid the decision to skip the Grand Steeple-Chase 12 months ago when the Carberrys were battling to get the eight-year-old back from an overreach.

"Everyone has been working away quietly towards this and all the stars have aligned," said Hinderze. "My racing manager Nicky Balanda, Dominique Boeuf, my son Oscar, Louisa and Philip; we were all of the same mind. We would never run in this race unless the horse was at 120 per cent. 

"Everytime he ran, we saw progress, the same as with each piece of work at home. Everything has gone perfectly and we’ve won the race because of how he was out on the track. The Carberrys did all the work and then Clement was like the last leg in a relay, he brought it home."

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