| |
Analysis
& Selections by
"éléphant"
The
Feature Meeting
Whether
it be "the race of the day" or a small prize round the
gaffs, we will attempt to use our knowledge of the formbook to
highlight the fancied horses participating each day and their
characteristics and requirements. Hopefully this 'second opinion'
provides you with a winner or two each day, or even reinforces your
own view on a particular may even convince you to back some of those
horses which we feel are the "ones to fear", or have decent
eachway claims. whichever is the case, we hope the information is of
use to you.
SELECTIONS
- For each race, we have given you who, in our view, are the likeliest
winners; (1er _ THE WINNER?), as well as any runners who could run
well at eachway odds; (E/W ALTERNATIVE) . Any runner from our features
are shown before each race's analysis.
LONGCHAMP
Dimanche, Avril 11.
Terrain : Bon [Pénétromètre : 3.2]
|¨¨¨¨I^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 13:45 PRIX DE GRAVELLE Pour poulains entiers, hongres et pouliches de 3 ans, (1700 m 22000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- Philipsburg, Artistic Style, Roystonea, and Surak look best of the seven runners declared for the opener on
Longchamp's' card. The most experienced of these is Phillipsburg who has
finished in the frame in five of his seven starts, most recently when finishing
second in a 1600m handicap at Compiegne in March.. He sets a fair standard
here and will take plenty of beating, however the bar hasn't been placed out of reach of his rivals here and being rather exposed could
again been found wanting against some interesting opponents... I like Artistic Style here, who
maiden an encouraging first appearance here in the Prix du Dragon over 1600m a
month ago. He should had come on for that first effort and might just be good enough to cause a minor surprise
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Artistic Style,
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Philipsburg,
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Surak
|¨¨¨¨II^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 14:15 PRIX DE SAINT-GEORGES Pour chevaux entiers, hongres et juments de 3 ans ... (1000 m 66000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- Seven useful sprinters have been declared for the second race on the card, a conditions spring over 5 furlongs. All of them have chances of sorts, though you would believe that it is least likely that British raider Miss
Anabaa would be good enough. Zip In, one of France's best sprinters last season is likely to be warm order, however as he carries penalties for previous
successes, the door is open for Zinziberine (a useful juvenile last season), Porlezza (a consistent sprinter last season who was touched-off in this event 12 months
ago) and Formalhaut (a consistent sprinter who has run well on both starts this season) to capitalise. Zip In may ultimately prove to be the best of these, however at this time he does have a fitness 'disadvantage' and therefore it may pay to take him on here.
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Zinziberine (USA)
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Zip In
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Formalhaut
|¨¨¨¨III^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 14:45 PRIX ANDRE CARRUS Handicap divisé - Première Epreuve - Pour chevaux entiers, hongres et juments de 4 ans ...(1600 m 48000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- An interesting handicap comes next ... Jean De Luz, Sweet Name, Farlee Hill,
Epouvantail, Valgreen, Artus, Molto Vivace, Aso Rock and Reine Du Desert would come into the
equation here ... I'm not sure what's the best thing to do here as nothing on
recent form makes much appeal... If this were a handicap over here I'd be
inclined to have a little eachway on Reine Du Desert, who has competed
creditably in handicaps valued between Euro 40,000-70,000 and deserves topweight here. He ran well at
Cagnes-Sur Mer at the beginning of the year, winning once as well as finishing
third in a Euro 74,000 handicap and with two pipe-openers behind him may be good
enough to creep into the frame... Jean De Luz and Epouvantail, who have similar
profiles to the selection would be my "next bests".
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Reine Du Desert
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Jean De Luz
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Epouvantail,
|¨¨¨¨IV^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 15:15 PRIX LUPIN Pour poulains entiers et pouliches de 3 ans. Poids ...(2100 m 150000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- With the advent of coverage of French racing on At The Races, this season's renewal of the Prix Lupin arguably takes on even more significance as in
Dalakhani, Super Celebre, New South Wales, Alberto Giacometti and Ballestrini
we have five horses who could well figure significantly in either the English or French versions of the Derby. It also can give a good indicator as to which nation has the strongest form lines. I suspect there are many 'home punters' who could well be wading in here on either
Ballestrini, Alberto Giacometti or even New South Wales, all of whom have been campaigned at Group level at 2 years of age in Ireland. In the case of Alberto
Giacometti and Ballestrini, we know how good their form was from last term and have been given evidence of their
well-being. After these two met three weeks ago at Leopardstown, where Ballestrini was given the more judicious ride to make all from Alberto
Giacometti and Alamshar who probably were too interested in each other and as a result gave each other too much to do. There were five and a half lengths between these two on that
occasion, and you would have thought that with 6lbs less on his back today, Alberto
Giacometti should reverse places, however the fact that Kieran Fallon has been booked to rider
Ballestrini here suggests to me that connections may well believe that he can repeat the dose, in which case it may pay to look elsewhere for victory. I like what I saw of New South Wales last term and I'll be fascinated to see how he fares here with the future in mind, however this should be fought out (in my view) between
Dalakhani and Super Celebre. Dalakhani is unbeaten and has looked imperious so far in four outings. He beat Jipapibaquigrafo readily here last month and should be ready for this test, however it would be unwise to underestimate Super Celebre who has been brought on far more slowly by Eric
Lellouche. He inflicted just as easy a victory on Jipapibaquigrafo here at the beginning of April and
will give Dalakhani plenty to think about here. I expect this to be close, however I will stick with the likely favourite.
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Dalakhani
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Super Celebre (FR)
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- New South Wales
|¨¨¨¨V^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 15:50 GAINSBOROUGH POULE D'ESSAI DES POULAINS [FRENCH 2000 GUINEAS] Pour poulains entiers de 3 ans. Poids : 58 k. Vers ...(1600 m 350000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- France's first classic of the season has attracted a select field of ten and in the absence of Italian ace Le Vie Dei Colori (who bar injury, would in my view
have had a big say here], Clodovil, Bourbonnais, France, Catcher In The Rye, Desert Destiny, Elusive City and Sign Of The Wolf appear on paper to be the main
protagonists. I do like Clodovil here, who did very little wrong when winning the Prix de Fontainebleau (Group 3)
here two week ago... I noted that the form of that race has been somewhat rubbished by certain UK
pundits, because of Tomahawk's disappointing run in our Guineas, however
Summer Diplomacy, who came second that day ahs come out and won since and this horse could do no more than remain
unbeaten. He is preferred to Sign Of The Wolf, who is unbeaten and posted a good effort when beating Krataios [who reopposes] by a length, Bourbonnais, [who should come on from his first run in
Dubai] and Catcher In The Rye, [unexposed and 3ll thought of apparently
by connections]
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Clodovil,
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Catcher In The Rye,
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Sign Of The Wolf,
|¨¨¨¨VI^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 16:30 GAINSBOROUGH POULE D'ESSAI DES POULICHES [FRENCH 1000 GUINEAS] Pour pouliches de 3 ans. Poids : 57 k . Versement ...(1600 m 350000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- The season's second classic has attracted a useful field of twelve fillies, though naturally the race loses some of its tint with Six
Perfections and Intercontinental both having run last weekend at Newmarket. Welcome Millenium, Crystal Star, Mes Bleus
Yeux, Anyaas, Maiden Tower, Musical Chimes, Fidelio´s Miracle and Etoile Montante would appear to be the main protagonists. a few of the home
challengers clashed in the Prix de la Grotte (Group 3) here at the end of
April.. on that occasion Sheik Mohammed's filly Maiden Tower, maintained
her unbeaten record by a diminishing ½length, from Fidelio´s Miracle, with Welcome Millenium and Etoile Montante filling the remaining places - less than a length behind... There
wouldn't be much to choose between these, however you'd like to believe
that there might be more to come from Etoile Montante, who on her run last
term in the Prix Marcel Boussac Criterium Pouliches-Royal Barriere de Deauville (Group 1) at the Arc Meeting [where she chased home Six Perfections], might be capable of reversing placing with that prep run
behind here... She'll need to because I suspect Crystal Star, [encouraging
reappearance in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury on her reappearance] and Anyaas [very interesting that
Godolphin run here especially as she didn't really do herself justice last
time out in the UAE 1000 Guineas] will be gaining hand over foot on her
up the short straight... I hope she just holds on
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Etoile Montante,
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Crystal Star
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Anyaas
|¨¨¨¨VII^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 17:10 PRIX DU TROCADERO - A Réclamer - Pour poulains entiers, hongres et pouliches de 3 a ...(1950 m 22000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- Charlepierre, Tiyango, Double Tour, Liverpool Echo and King Cavern make most appeal in this claimer - the
penultimate race on the card. Charlepierre, is the selection, having won three of his seven starts at La Teste Busch [twice] and Cagnes Sur Mer and comes here on
the back of a good run last month 2125 m at Marseilles and should be too
strong for Tiyango, a son of Acatenango, who ran well is a similar event at
Saint Cloud ten days ago.
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Charlepierre,
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Tiyango,
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Liverpool Echo
|¨¨¨¨VIII^¨LONGCHAMP ¨¨¨|¨¨¨¨¨»-- 17:40 PRIX DE SAINT-NICOLAS - Handicap divisé - Deuxième Epreuve - Pour chevaux entiers, hongres et juments de 4 ans ...(1600 m 22000 Euro)
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯ªt¯¯|¯the¯|¯post¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|
¦ "éléphant" ¦:¬»-- A second handicap over a mile ends the card. Kingsclere, Fils Du Nil, Secret Warrior, Arum d'Or, Dolphin's Prospect, Storm Boy, Beersheba and Sao Luis are the leading
protagonists... Kingsclere the mount of Eric Saint-Martin is likely to prove
popular here, having run well in two similar evens over course and distance on his last two starts, having previously won two claimers at Saint Cloud in March ... He'll go close
here and is taken to score chiefly at the expense of Fils Du Nil, who is coming to hand
after some promising placing in similar events on his last couple of outings and topweight Arum d'Or, who would have been very
interesting here if she'd had a prior outing.
¦ 1er. LE GAGNANT?¹ ¦:¬»-- Kingsclere,
¦ 2e. placé ?² ¦:¬»-- Fils Du Nil,
¦ 3e. placé ?³ ¦:¬»-- Arum d'Or,
|
|
