Fresh from his impressive Royal Ascot triumph, Lazzat's connections are already mapping out an ambitious long-term campaign for the star French sprinter, with a potential tilt at Australia's lucrative Everest on the cards in 2026.
Jerome Reynier's charge enjoyed an unbeaten campaign in France as a three-year-old and capped his season with a gallant second in the Golden Eagle in Australia, though he failed to fire in the Hong Kong Mile. This year, a return to six furlongs has proved pivotal for the talented gelding, who secured a landmark first Group 1 win outside France when defeating Japanese raider Satono Reve at Royal Ascot in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
Speaking to Nick Luck Daily, Reynier said: "As he won at Ascot and he doesn't mind the ground, he could go for the British Champion Sprint at Ascot in October. I don't think we're going to travel him outside of Europe this year and we are planning an international campaign as a five-year-old next year. He was travelling all over the world as a three-year-old last year, so we'll keep him looking at some European targets for now.
"He's entered [in the City Of York Stakes] because we never know what will happen but defending his crown in the Prix Maurice de Gheest is the logical next step. He came back in really good shape, we are very happy with him. He's a monster, the way he is handling things, a pure athlete.
"We almost thought he could have run in the July Cup, it was a bit quick and we want him to last as long as we can - we're not making a stallion profile. If he can be competitive for the next couple of years, that will be amazing.
"[Travel] is a lot of stress, you have to adapt to the various conditions. When he went to Australia, he had to do two weeks of quarantine and once he arrived in Australia, he had to train on the turf which was unusual for him: it was quite challenging.
"It's been a great gamble. The Golden Eagle was a big gamble and we almost made it. It's very interesting, maybe next year we'll look at the Everest with him if six furlongs is really his trip. We never know. This year, we want to make him the best European sprinter, he needs to win a couple more Group 1 races and we'll be very happy to have a very nice sprinter for the years to come."
While the Wathnan Racing-owned gelding has competed at the top level in Australia before, finishing runner-up behind British raider Lake Forest in 2024's renewal of the Golden Eagle at Rosehill, an international horse has not won the Everest since its inauguration in 2017.
If lining up at Randwick in October 2026, Lazzat will become just the fourth non-Australian runner to attempt to land the jurisdiction's richest purse, and the first representing France.
