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ILNAMAR
- AN INTERESTING CHELTENHAM CANDIDATE?
by
Christopher Iles
Sunday, 21 January 2001
It seems Martin Pipe is now training this five year old chaser, who was one of the best and most
progressive in his year group last autumn. In running second to Sleeping Night in the Prix Morgex on his final chase start, he achieved almost what former Pipe imports Banjo and Eudipe did over there - and should pick up a race or two on the way to Cheltenham.
Christopher
Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE.
JUMP
SEASON MOVES TO CAGNES FOR THE WINTER
by
Christopher Iles
Tuesday, 16 January 2001
Rather than freeze to death like us over here, the
French jumps scene moves to Pau and Cagnes-sur-Mer over the winter.
A few younger horses have caught the eye, such as a group of debuting 4 year olds over hurdles -
Armaturk, Ogham, Roscoff and Zetho - all of whom should go on to better things. Also worth a mention are Lasting Life
(winner of an Enghien 3yo hurdle last autumn, but who failed to adapt to Auteuil before doing well over
hurdles and fences at Cagnes) and the dual Pau winner High Mood.
Cyriaque Diard's two Stayers' Hurdle entries have been
in action at Pau, with contrasting results. Darastan is a likeable and consistent hurdler/chaser who won
the Grand Steeple-Chase d'Enghien (3m1f) last autumn. He's won at Pau and Auteuil as well, so there's no
reason he shouldn't adapt to Cheltenham and run well. The catch is that he ran on the all-weather Flat track
at Pau on Sunday and finished apparently lame.
Havre de Thaix comes from the Or Royal/Challenger du
Luc style of French-breds and is the second most unreliable jumper in France (the most unreliable
deserves an article to himself, which will follow in the near future...) Again, he mixes hurdling and
steeplechasing. He did well at Pau last winter, before falling in a chase at Auteuil on his debut
there with the race at his mercy, following it up by running out on his next start for no discernible
reason. Back in action over hurdles this autumn, he ran second to First Gold and ahead of Al Capone II on
his reappearance, but fell at the second when sent off favourite for a hurdle containing the French champion
chaser Vieux Beaufai and a number of other proven high-class hurdlers. He won by 20 lengths back at Pau
next time out, before following up with a heavy fall last time out when disputing the lead and well clear
of the rest. He'd probably have the ability to win the Stayers, but would be far more likely to fall over
while running down the hill or something similarly absurd !!!.
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
A
FEW NEW NAMES TO WATCH OUT FOR OVER THE COMING WEEKS
by
Christopher Iles
Wednesday, 3 January 2001
I'm
working on some speed ratings for the younger French horses from Auteuil
and Enghien this year - should give a guide to their ability when they
come over here.
A few to keep an eye open for:
Bounce Back (F Doumen) - entered in a novice chase at the abandoned
Newbury meeting. He was one of the best four year old hurdlers in France
last autumn, and looks an obvious Sun Alliance Chase candidate.
Gastina (N Henderson) - the top 3yo filly in 1998. She hasn't done
much since, but would be capable of winning novice chases over here, and
went over fences at 3 in France.
Henderson also has a handicap chaser called Goguenard
who's been entered in his first races over here. Like all ex-French
handicap chasers, he's on a ridiculously bad rating and won't be winning
soon. I'm trying hard to think of a French import who ran in handicap
chases in France and went straight into them here and won, but can't come
up with many - usually they never win again.
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
FRENCH
INVASION AT CHEPSTOW ON WELSH GRAND NATIONAL DAY
by
Christopher Iles
Saturday, 23 December 2000
A fair-sized French invasion of Wales on the 27th. Francois Doumen sends
over Bilboa for the Finale Junior Hurdle and a four-strong raiding party
entered up by Guillaume Macaire.
Macaire, who's one of France's most successful trainers, is based at Royan
near Bordeaux, and is something of a specialist at winning with three and
four year old chasers; typically, he's bringing over a three year old
(Jair du Cochet) and three four year olds.
Bilboa beat Jair du Cochet on their last start at Enghien, and would on
the face of it be likely to do so again. I do notice, though, that she
dodged the French championship race, the Prix Cambaceres, in favour of the
Enghien race, and I just wonder if Doumen was trying to avoid the heavy
ground at Auteuil. He hasn't had a runner at Chepstow that I can remember,
and the traditionally heavy ground there may come as a surprise to him.
Jair du Cochet wasn't that far behind Bilboa, and would be decent enough
to figure.
Macaire runs Imperial de Thaix in the novice chase at 3.20. He's run 6th
and 4th in two ordinary races over this sort of trip at Auteuil, and looks
beatable considering the opposition that's also entered. Ile d'Ex and
Tango Royal go in the 3.50. Ile d'Ex finished fourth in a mares' hurdle at
Auteuil on her only start, and is rather an unknown. Tango Royal is much
more interesting - he contested all the top four year old chases in France
and would rank among the top six of his generation. If he reproduces his
French form here, he should win. But Macaire has history to overcome -
other than Francois Doumen, no French trainer has won a race over here
since the 1950's.
I'll also give a mention to three imports from France who should be worth
following. Fondmort, now with Nicky Henderson, is in the 12:40 at Kempton
on Boxing Day. He'd finished fourth in one of the top four year old
hurdles in France on his last start, and his previous race worked out
well, with a number of winners of good races finishing behind him.
Paul Nicholls has a couple of interesting newcomers in Azertyuiop and
Whitenzo. Azertyuiop won his only hurdle at Auteuil fairly easily, but
didn't beat much. He has also won three French bumpers, including one of
the valuable ones, at Nantes this October. Whitenzo had placed second in
two fast-run novice chases over 2m4f at Auteuil. On the first occasion he
beat Nile Bonheur, who's since won a valuable novice chase, and Exit Sud
who's also won since. The second time, he was the only horse to give
Ilnamar a race, and Ilnamar ran a very close second in the Grade 2 Prix
Morgex next time - a race previously won by Eudipe and Banjo.
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
THE KING GEORGE VI CHASE
by
Christopher Iles
Wednesday
20 December 2000
The
Furlong To Go Triumvirate of columnists, 'The Rook', 'The Flatman', and
Christopher Iles have been tasked with giving their view on who will win
the King George next Tuesday........ .
"OK, here goes...
The first thing that strikes me on looking at the King George is the
competition for the lead there will be. Beau, Edredon Bleu and First Gold
all do their winning by trying to make all and break their opponents. With
2 or 3 of these in the final race, the likely scenario is a very fierce
pace, probably leading to the front-runners burning out, and the way being
opened to a come-from-behind runner; a similar situation to when Nupsala
benefited from Desert Orchid and Beau Ranger fighting over the lead.
The 13 entries can quickly be reduced to 8 by removing the outclassed
Beau, Bellator, Double Thriller, Go Ballistic and Mulligan. This leaves 5
past winners of Grade 1 races (Direct Route, Edredon Bleu, First Gold,
Florida Pearl and See More Business) and 3 recent winners of major
handicaps who may still be improving (Lady Cricket, Legal Right and
Marlborough).
To look more closely at each of these:
Direct Route - the race should be run to suit him, and Kempton should suit
him as well, seeing how well he does round the Mildmay course. Normally, I
give horses the benefit of the doubt when they're stepping up in trip
(unless there's a good reason not to), but in what looks a very
competitive race, there has to be a question mark about him lasting 3
miles.
Edredon Bleu - in my opinion, is less likely to get the trip than Direct
Route. His style of racing is less suited to 3 miles, and the way his
trainer insists on resting him for three weeks between races does suggest
he takes a lot out of himself in running. That said, a number of his
relatives in France won decent races at around 2m6f, so it's not
impossible for him to make it home.
First Gold - the memory of him being harried by Or Jack in the Grand
Steeplechase de Paris, and forced into a huge blunder, comes back here.
He's won his biggest races when allowed a more or less uncontested lead,
which he won't get here, and has made enough mistakes at Auteuil to make
me wary of backing him at Kempton, where the fences are consistently large
and stiff - not what he's used to. He has sat just off the lead and won,
so could race in second or third and win that way, but I can't see this as
an ideal race for him.
Florida Pearl - usually finds one or two to beat him in a finish in this
sort of a race, and no obvious reason to see why he should win here.
Lady Cricket - most people seem to think she won't stay, but I think she
probably will. She's improved every time she's stepped up in distance
before failing to handle the tarmac at the Festival, and may have found
running in the Hennessy a bit soon after her previous run. The race should
be run to suit her, but I'm none too convinced about her consistency or
attitude.
Legal Right - I'm not convinced, as this comes a bit soon after his Ascot
win, and he's jumping up in class, but there's no obvious reason he
shouldn't figure.
Marlborough - will be suited by the way the race is run, but the two
questions are, is he quite good enough, and will his jumping hold up in a
really fast-run race?
See More Business - has done this twice before, will enjoy Edredon Bleu
and First Gold setting the race up for him, and looks very hard to beat.
So there we have it, See More Business as our probable winner, with
Marlborough, Legal Right and Direct Route as the most likely of the
others. I can't help noting there are enough caveats in the above to allow
for most circumstances, though..."
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
AUTEUIL'
S MEETING ON 1 NOVEMBER
by
Christopher Iles
Saturday 15 December 2000
After the storms and the rain, it was perhaps surprising that this meeting
went ahead; the nearby Bois de Boulogne was littered with broken branches.
The result was the softest surface at Auteuil so far this autumn, though
not that heavy by the place's standards. Still, some of the earlier form
was upset on the different ground.
This was evident in the two three-year-old hurdles on the card. The colts'
race looked quite decent, with a bunch of immature future chasers with
potential running. Two of these, Crin Argente and Fiumorbo, were the first
two home, while the favourite Warjan - a small horse - got stuck in the
mud, and will do better on the faster ground next May/June. The fillies'
race didn't seem to have runners with the same long-term potential, but
the form looked decent, as the runner-up, Bneya, had run well on her
previous two starts. The winner, Nouka, and the third, Deimos, also looked
worth keeping an eye on.
The big betting event was an 18-runner handicap chase over the
none-too-difficult 2m5.5f circuit. The quality of the runners wasn't that
high, and the race was littered with falls, especially at the two smaller
water jumps on the far side of the course. The Doumen runner, Facts Not
Fiction, fell on the first circuit when towards the back. He's a
half-brother of Fiddling the Facts, and shares the mare's habit of making
the places but being beaten. He won at Newbury last spring, but it's hard
to see him making a big impact over here this winter.
It seems strange to pick out a winless faller at the bottom of the
handicap as one to keep an eye on, but I could see the grey mare Glory
Princess doing well over extreme distances at somewhere like Bangor,
should she be imported.
The fourth race on the card, the Prix Maurice Gillois, is the
four-year-old chase championship - the French Sun Alliance Chase.
Attracting a smallish field of eight, it attracted the best four chasers
around - Chicuelo, Douze Douze, Sleeping Night and Tango Royal - two
useful but not top-class horses in So Be It and Master Finch, and the
outclassed Tintin and Marchand de Reve.
The race itself developed into the most extraordinary championship chase
I've seen. Douze Douze went to the front after six fences, soon went
clear, and basically disappeared off into the distance, producing a huge
jump at the water jump, and easing down to win by a comfortable 15
lengths. Sleeping Night and Tango Royal fought out a good battle for
second before the latter weakened in the home straight, and the rest were
nowhere.
Douze Douze was being talked of as a horse for next season's Grand
Steeplechase de Paris, not surprisingly, but there are a few doubts. He
repeatedly jumped very right-handed, and you have to wonder if he'll
sustain a front-running performance like this over an extra 7 furlongs.
Incidentally, his trainer Guillaume Macaire has had the odd horse entered
over here this winter - it's not impossible we'll see Douze Douze in the
near future.
The championship hurdle race, over 3 miles, surprisingly favoured the
fast-ground horses Le Sauvignon and Baracouda, who were involved in a
competitive finish quite some way clear of the perennial third in these
events, Kimbi. Both of the first two might turn up in England this winter,
though Le Sauvignon didn't seem quite the same horse at Aintree last
spring as he has in France since, his trainer suggesting he didn't find
the smaller English hurdles to his advantage. Baracouda, still eligible
for novice hurdles over here, may do the better of the two.
The final two races on the card had a fair few pointers for the future.
The five-year-old chase was a particularly interesting event, with some
lightly-raced but potentially top-class horses involved - Kotkijet,
Harmonie Tresor, Hello des Plages, Haut de Gamme and Mirmillon. The
winner, Kotkijet, is a half-brother of the triple Grand Steeplechase de
Paris winner Katko, the horse who is as near as there has been to being
the French Arkle. Kotkijet went on to prove his class by winning the Prix
Georges Courtois at the start of December. The Doumen runner, Malicieux,
is well-named and a dubious character of the first order. It wasn't the
first time I've run across him; the procedure seems to be to take him down
to the start early and keep him away from the other horses for fear he
will kick out at them. The race was livened up by the tailed-off. Hastaven
deciding to jump into the final ditch rather than over it. Along with the
refusal at the water jump, this seems to be one of those ways of exiting a
race peculiar to Auteuil.
The final race - a four-year-old hurdle - started in a similar vein, with
Pulp Fiction veering sharp left approaching the first hurdle, refusing,
and unseating his rider. A big field of inexperienced horses was well
beaten by Caballo Raptor, who won the champion four-year-old hurdle next
time out. A number of the horses who chased him home have run poorly
since, though the ninth won next time out, which makes me wonder how good
the form was. The three I liked from the race were Black d'Argent,
Insolent de Cotte and Speed of Britain.
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
CHICUELO
by Christopher Iles
Monday 27 November 2000
I
was a bit surprised to see The 4Long Pole tip Musardo last Saturday - his
form to date hasn't been that special. That said, there were some strange
comments about him in the racing press (The one that claimed he was
unbeaten was especially odd), and Enghien winners do seem more likely to
hold their form over here than Auteuil winners. At a guess, this is
something to do with the drainage at Auteuil which gives the ground its
swamp-like qualities........ Captain Forster would have loved the place
!!!
There seems to be a fair amount of British interest in Chicuelo, who keeps
being placed in all the big French four year old races, though why anyone
would want to buy a horse who specialises in being beaten is beyond me...
He's eligible for novice chases here, whereas the majority of the best
French four year olds this year aren't, which may be the explanation.
Christopher Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
BARACOUDA
.... IS HE BOUND FOR CHELTENHAM?
by Christopher Iles
Friday 3 November 2000
Francois
Doumen was quoted as saying he plans to run his Sunday winner Baracouda in
the big novice hurdle at Ascot before Christmas and then in the Sun
Alliance. He'd have to have an excellent chance, being the second-best
hurdler in France at the moment. He should handle the fast ground that
seems to be always the case at Cheltenham as well.
Christopher
Iles
FOCUS ON FRANCE
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