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Is there anyone interested in following the French Horse Racing this season. I am thinking of focusing mainly on the 3yo division and the 2yo’s when the better races come along later in the season. There’s not going to be any point in putting the work into it if there is insufficient interest though.
The Prix La Camargo took place recently and it is a race most notable for now as the one La Cressonniere made her debut in last season. That filly went on to win the French Guineas and Oaks before injury robbed her of a chance to land the Golden Treble in the Arc. She is still in training and prominent in early Arc betting.
This season Jean-Claude Rouget was due to have the Siyouni filly Kestila running in the Saint Cloud race and she was early favourite for it but a non-runner on the day. In her absence the Richard Fahey filly Melesina landed the race but she’s a well raced and fairly exposed sort so I am doubting we have another Guineas filly with her.
Kestila was one I mentioned in last years 2yo thread and the Aga Khan owned filly took a similar path to La Cressonniere last season, winning 3/3 but not tackling the top races yet. Interesting that she was taking the same starting point as her stablemate last season. I am not sure yet why she didn’t run but the ground was given as soft.
The next few weeks should see some of the more promising ones reemerging for the trials and I have a few that I am looking forward to seeing again. As always the bookies are bloody useless at pricing up the French Classics ante-post. I am sure that cost me plenty last year, as my picks were more exposed by the time odds were available.
Anyway, if nobody is interested in the French Racing there won’t be any point, so it depends if the demand is there. It can be time consuming work.
In the notebook Kestila (Jean-Claude Rouget)
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Bonjour steve,
je suis intéressé par les meilleures races.
Je pense que vous avez mis en place la vidéo où Qemah attiré mon attention.
Je pense qu’elle peut progresser à nouveau.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Definitely interested. You unearthed some good ones last year.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
I have very little knowledge of French racing but would be keen to learn (and earn) more.
Hi Steve,
I would be definetely interested in French racing and I would appreciate if you keep up your analysis.
I know a little about the French market, because German trainers often do excursions to France due to higher prize money and I would like to learn more..How do you Watch the racing Atr show only the Stakes races RUK when theirs a quite day/?
how did Lady Frankel look winning on sunday?
I’d very much like you to continue Steve, you do good raceanalisys and I like other peoples views on races.
Best Wishes
SilkI used to follow the top French races mainly through Nick Mordin’s weekly round up on his website but he stopped doing it a few years ago ……………and I lost interest
I still try and catch the group one races on RUK or ATR but often have no idea of the French trained horses
How do you Watch the racing Atr show only the Stakes races RUK when theirs a quite day/?
how did Lady Frankel look winning on sunday?
Hi, sometimes you can catch the races on ATR and if they are group races they will almost certainly be shown. There are streaming sites out there, normally a bit hooky and a bit unreliable.
I try to post videos here when I can find a reliable source for the replays. For watching live I registered on Ze Turf. It’s primarily there to encourage you to bet on the race but I have never deposited any funds there and can still watch races live and access the replays. It’s in French but you can usually get the gist of it.
Lady Frankel’s race video was/is over on the Frankel Rule The World thread.
I will do my best to keep up to speed with posting interesting races and any betting news I can find but sometimes it is tricky translating from French using these web translators. I was trying to attain some news about Jean-Claude-Rouget’s Le Havre filly La Cochere, who looked good in winning her first race last season, the runner up Senga went on to run well in the Boussac later. The translator on google provided this response:-
Jean-Claude Rouget saw his “plane” La Cochère win brilliantly the Prix des Marettes but nevertheless it does not decolère. On the track, the daughter of Le Havre blew the screen. In part, she made a rare line to open her charts ahead of Senga who “fully satisfied” her coach Pascal Bary.
All I need now is someone to translate the above from English into, well, English you can understand.
The gist of the article seemed to be that Rouget was complaining there were unsuitable targets for the fillies between the race La Cochere won and the Boussac, he feels there should be a better fitting race for the 2yo fillies. Anyway I felt La Cochere looked really smart last season and can’t wait to see her again.
“A rare line to open her charts”? Sounds intriguing.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Today’s Racing Post has an interview with Jean-Claude Rouget, duscussing his 2017 flat team
Today’s Racing Post has an interview with Jean-Claude Rouget, duscussing his 2017 flat team
He had an exceptional season last year. That will be very hard to follow but there are a few of his that I noted on their debut last year.
There was talk that Rouget benefited from other trainers having problems keeping their strings healthy and that he may have been lucky to some extent with the Fabre and De-Royer Dupre stables having a modest time of it. To be fair to Rouget, he did announce very early in the season that this was by far the best bunch of 3yos that he had ever had and that he had about a dozen that he expected to be capable of winning Group races. Another trainer from France quickly defended Rouget by declaring that the problem the big name Paris trainers had was not viruses but instead “Slow Horses”
A trainer I am keeping an eye on this season is Francis-Henri Graffard. He used to work for Alain De-Royer Dupre but is just starting to make a name for himself and I am hoping some value can be found with some of his runners this season.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
From Racing Post
La Cochere
“We’ll look for an easy comeback in April Somewhere, I don’t know where yet and a lot will depend on how she is going in the mornings”
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Hello Steve
Please keep the info coming. I will be at Deauville in May for the Guineas weekend so any heads up on potential candidates will be good. I have used Ze Turf and they did some great offers for not only for new customers but for regulars as well. I haven’t used since I went to Auteuil last year but will be doing so when we go in may. Withdrawing money (which is a strange experience for me!) was relatively easy once you get some ID to them and on occasion they do bet on UK and Irish racing as well. I even got a slight fascination with trotting
Thanks for the info Nathan and thanks for the replies.
I’ll give the trotting a miss I think
I am going to have a trawl through for updates on some of the ones who caught my eye last season and those who have appeared early doors this year.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Here is a colt who impressed me last week. The trainer Henri Pantall has made a good start to the season and this son of Dubawi out of an Oasis Dream mare deeply impressed me on his debut over 6 and a half furlongs at Chantilly.
Muttrah Fort is the colts name and he is a strapping specimen. Quickly away he was a little green on the lead but then settled travelling very well. Under minimum encouragement he simply quickened away from them for a very taking win, staying on well all the way and although he is a quick actioned colt with speed, he may get further than sprint trips.
The second horse here is probably capable of better, she gave her jockey a hard time and wouldn’t settle but she came through well for second. If she settles better she looks a sure fire winner for the future. Unpretentious is trained by Andre Fabre and an Invincible Spirit filly, who looked headstrong this day.
This is the video:-
http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/race-replays/2/2538/
Muttrah Fort was awarded 86 by the Racing Post but it’s impossible to say really as they were all unraced coming in. This did look deeply impressive though and one for my notebook anyway. Interesting to see where he goes next.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Muttrah Fort was awarded 86 by the Racing Post but it’s impossible to say really as they were all unraced coming in. This did look deeply impressive though and one for my notebook anyway. Interesting to see where he goes next.
On the clock, Muttrah Fort time was 4.13s slower than the listed race on the card over the same trip.
Chantilly 16 Mar 2017
12:47 Miracle Des Aigles 7½f 63
01:20 Muttrah Fort 6½f 21
01:55 Filante 1m1½f 63
02:25 Fas 6f 62
03:03 African Ride 6½f 67
03:45 Green Focus 7½f 52
04:15 Ecureuil 1m2½f 40
04:45 Passage Rimbaut 1m2½f 25My OR conversion for the race for Muttrah Fort was 78, compared against the listed
winner African Ride who ran to a 91.The going allowance I had on the day was +0.50s/f (fast).
I take an interest speed figure wise in the racecourses run by France Galop, and the only standard times for French racing were compiled by me.
Food for thought…
Mike.
I’ll give the trotting a miss I think
Trotting in France is more popular than flat and nh put together – the D’Amerique generates more interest among French people than the Arc, in spite of it being run in the depths of winter.
I’m guessing a little, but this may be because the horses stay in training for longer and race more frequently (tougher breed plus A.I.). The form is more reliable and horses get bigger followings than the thoroughbreds. D’Amerique winners like Bold Eagle, Ready Cash, Jag De Bellouet etc, are far better known than almost any Arc winner you could name.
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