Sayani (horse)

Sayani showed good form as a two-year-old, recording his most important success in the Prix d'Arenberg over 1100 metres at Longchamp Racecourse.[4]

In the spring of 1946, Sayani established himself as a leading contender for the major three-year-old races with wins in the Prix Edmond Blanc 1,600 metres at Saint-Cloud and the Prix Daphnis over 1850 metres at Le Tremblay.[5] He was then moved up in class and started odds-on favourite for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains but finished third to Pactole.

In June, Sayani was brought back in distance and sent to England to contest the Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs at Royal Ascot. Ridden by Roger Poincelet, he started at odds of 100/6[6] and won from the filly Wayward Belle, who went on to win the Nassau Stakes. Later that year in England he won the Godolphin Plate at Hurst Park and the Select Stakes (not the current race of the same name) at Newmarket.[2] In August at Deauville Racecourse he won the Prix Jacques le Marois, which was then a race confined to three-year-olds.

In October 1946, Sayani returned to England to contest the Cambridgeshire, an all-aged handicap race over nine furlongs at Newmarket. He was lodged at the stable of Jack Reardon at Epsom, where Lieux's policy of strictly limiting the colt's physical activity drew adverse comment from local horsemen.[1] Carrying a weight of 130 pounds, he was ridden by the Australian jockey Rae Johnstone and started a 25/1[6] outsider in a thirty-four runner field. The start of the race was extremely rough and Sayani appeared to have lost his chance when he was badly hampered and almost brought down in the first furlong. The colt was able to recover and Johnstone produced him with a late run to take the lead in the final strides. He won by a head from the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Claro to whom he was conceding fifteen pounds, with Toronto a head away in third.[7] His weight set the record in the race: only the American colt Foxhall in 1881 and the four-year-old Florence three years later had previously won under more than 126 pounds.[8]