Forum Replies Created
- Posts
Anyone know where I can find Big Race (future) Entries for French racing?
Trying to find out if there are any early (before end of June). French entries for:
Helleborine, Espirita, Lily Of The Valley and Behkabad.
Unfortunately nothing so easy as the Racing Post feature which I assume you had in mind. If your French is good, you may be able to find something better than I have, but best I can manage is searching manually on France Galop. You can either search by date if you know a race’s scheduled date (usually the race will be run 1 date earlier than last year) or search declarations/entries by horse. For your requests:
Helleborine:
Pouliches (15/5/2011)
Saint-Alary (22/5/2011)
Diane (12/6/2011)Espirita:
Same 3 plus
Coronation Stakes (17/6/2011)Lily of the Valley:
No entriesBehkabad:
No entriesFor Behkabad, I have heard that he is being thought of for the Grand Prix de Chantilly (entries not yet out) and King George & QE Stakes (entries not yet out). Arc entries out on May 4th, in case anyone is interested.
Only 7 runners left:
Cirrus des Aigles
Planteur
Pouvoir Absolu (pacemaker for Planteur)
Ley Hunter
Silver Pond
Cape Blanco
SarafinaShould be a good race. 4 good chances in there (CdA, Pl, CB & Sara).
Telluride and Timos were pulled out at today’s forfeit stage, the other 16 horses are still entered.
Saw an article that AOB will run Cape Blanco, so maybe SNA and Jan Vermeer won’t be declared on Thursday.
Looks like Wildenstein and Aga Khan will run pacemakers in there for Planteur/Sarafina respectively. Wonder if that will actually make it a well-run race…
Still struggling to actually find the supporting races and associated entries
It’s there on France Galop, but I can’t post the link because you have to navigate there (Horseracing Professionals >> Races >> By date & racecourse).
Regarding all the withdrawals, and whether it is even a worthwhile contest anymore…
Yes, it is a shame to have lost Wootton Bassett, Dubai Prince and Dream Ahead – all could have been conceivable winners.
But first remember that the one of the most hyped and anticipated juveniles in recent history is still in the race; seriously, the biggest blow to the race would be if Frankel himself didn’t make it. Next, three other major G1-winning juveniles from last season (Casamento, Pathfork, ROC) are still in, and all should theoretically give Frankel a good challenge. Well, maybe less so for Casamento who would not be running if not for Dubai Prince’s absence, but still a good horse, just short of his ideal distance. Too-short-a-distance may also apply to Native Khan, but the fast ground & pacemaker will make him all the more competitive. Saammidd also didn’t like the soft ground in the Dewhurst and should be decent on the firm.
Quite a decent race, I think.
Is Murtagh not available to ride for Ballydoyle as the "best available on the day"? I know he has no contract but I would assume that they are still doing business as professionals.
I imagine they are currently still quite miffed with Murtagh, and will take some months of cooling off before they are willing to use him again. Even though they had made conditions difficult for him, and AOB didn’t want him riding out in the mornings at Ballydoyle anymore, and were possibly thinking of ending it themselves, it is another thing for him to have the "gall" to leave Coolmore of his own accord. Plus the speed with which he turned around and signed a contract with the Aga Khan…another kick in the Coolmore rear.
By the way I was surprised that Murtagh was not sought for Native Khan.
Big fan of Murtagh, but I think they were smart to go for Peslier, because Native Khan’s next target should be the Jockey Club, and so Peslier makes sense for the longer-term target.
I don’t think Spencer riding F&G is a sign that Coolmore/Ballydoyle will use him for the horses they own exclusively. Spencer is contracted to the Hays, and will ride F&G or Cape Blanco, but not the other Ballydoyle/Coolmore horses.
Regarding the Coolmore stallion choices:
People saying Coolmore need money are just spouting facts that are wrong…the reason they sold to the hays is why they sell all their horses because they dont need them as potential stallions. Not because they cant be good stallions but because they have to diversify their stock and keep adding the same breeding to the same races you get the same sire’s and we have seen Darley make massive inroads in a short space of time with a wide range of breeding stallions
That is definitely how I see it, but it is unclear that Coolmore realize that. They may have sold stakes in F&G and Cape Blanco because they are feeling a little saturated on the non-speedy Montjeu and Galileo stallion fronts, but that not mean they have figured out that their single-minded focus on Sadlers Wells and Danehill has abated.
word is that Zoffany’s going for the French 2000
Strange thing is that while Zoffany already held various Guineas and Derby entries, AOB has recently entered him in a six-furlong G3 race (Greenland Stks) at the Curragh the same day as the Irish 2000Gs as well as the Irish Champion Stakes. Has he still not figured out if this is a sprinter, miler or middle-distance horse? I mean, he clearly has speed, but also the pedigree for further, but still can’t fathom these mixed signals. Zoffs may not turn up to either Guineas.
with Ajtebi on Dubai Prince.
In the past couple of days, Ajtebi has ridden Zarooni’s Kempton & Beverley runners, while Fabre’s protege Barzalona riding at HQ for Zarooni. Zarooni seems to be a savvy fellow, and perhaps is keen to replace his compatriot as stable jockey with a better rider.
Workforce’s 2 best wins (Derby & Arc) have come in races with large fields, and Behkabad’s G1 losses have come in large fields (Jockey-Club & Arc), while his best wins (GP de Paris & Niel) have come in small fields. Mordin reckons that the best speed ratings all last year came from Behkabad and Planteur in the Prix Niel, and if Behkabad goes for the King George (typically a small field) this year, will be a much better bet than Workforce.
Maxios, Recital, Barocci could all be contenders, but so much will depend on how the 3yo season develops. At this point, we have a much better idea about the older horses, and I would say Workforce & Sarafina both have excellent chances, and will clearly have their programmes focused on arriving at Longchamp on Oct 2nd at their best. At this point, I feel Workforce will definitely be placed. Stoute has such a phenomenal record with his older colts. On the other hand, ARD has not had such great luck with his 4yo fillies, and Sarafina is a bit more of a risk.
So happy Ryan Moore rides this fella….soo soo happy. (Recital that is).
This could be a start of a beautiful realsionship..Punting and otherwise
I doubt it. From what I can tell, Ballydoyle want Moore badly, but I think he anticipates that the relationship wouldn’t last more than a couple of years, and has made it clear that he will stick with Stoute. I guess he is fine to pick up Ballydoyle rides on non-Stoute (or "lean", if you will
) days, but not when his boss needs him.I would have wondered why AOB would use him at all, then, because surely you’d want your horses develop a relationship with their jockeys (and come big race day, Moore will be on Workforce/Carlton House/Sea Moon/Cape Dollar/etc rather than Cape Blanco/Recital/Misty For Me/etc), but then again, AOB seems to not have much regard for the horse-jockey relationship of late.
Regarding French entries for the Derby, the shortest French colt in antepost betting is Bago’s half-brother Maxios who runs in a very strong renewal of the Prix La Force on Sunday. Lines up against other good prospects like Prairie Star (3rd to Recital at Saint-Cloud last year), Staros and Pour Moi.
Also, Vadamar won a Listed race at Saint-Cloud last Sunday, well enough that his connections are considering the Lingfield Derby Trial.
Here’s an example of three random ten year trends:
3 / 10 had previously won a Group 1
2 / 10 had previously won over a eight furlongs
9 / 10 had previously won over seven furlongsYou realize that only the 3rd of those is actually a trend, right? Neither 3/10 nor 2/10 are trends.
I personally don’t believe that trends are the be-all and end-all of anticipating races, but it’s an interesting perspective from a dedicated follower of trends that I am happy to read about and consider.
It’s not certain that Epsom will be the target, but Maxios looks like absolute quality. May run in the Prix La Force in just under 2 weeks, which will give an indication of how he matured over the winter.
Frankie rode Rewilding in Dubai so surely he rides for Sheikh Mohammed rather than Bin Suroor?
If Saamidd is fit, well and connections target the Guineas, Frankie will ride Saamidd.
When Zarooni was first appointed, there was a statement to the effect that Ajtebi was his primary jockey and Frankie was Suroor’s primary, although there was flexibility in the arrangement:
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/dubai-festival-simon-crisford-godolphin-to-use-mahmoud-al-zarooni-as-a-second-trainer/695573/latest/Technically, it suggests that – as per Bosranic’s post – Frankie would ride Saamidd if he runs. I think, however, that Godolphin are aware that Dubai Prince seems a better Guineas option than Saamidd, and so would probably want their best jockey (Frankie) on their best horse (Dubai Prince). A little doubt remains, though, because Sheikh Mohammed often lets his agenda to promote all things Emirati (viz, Ajtebi) get ahead of his agenda to win races.
On a separate note, Zarkava, in your list of top 10 horses in the betting on whom you ran the trends, I don’t suppose Native Khan was in that list, was he? I saw something on Dunlop today sounding very bullish about him (although saying Longchamp was just as likely as Newmarket, all depending on the ground).
If he were with Bin Suroor, I’d be inclined to agree, but Al Zarooni looks different gravy + a far better trainer. His record with Rewilding speaks volumes IMO.
I think that is absolutely correct. The only concern is that officially, Frankie rides for SBS and Ajtebi rides for MAZ, and I am not a big fan of Ajtebi. But although that is the official position, one can see that in practice, things are not that rigid. SBS’s only Guineas entry is Saamidd, and he sounds like an afterthought from Crisford’s comments last week (http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/dubai-prince-newmarket-guineas-epsom-derby-casamento-shaping-up-as-godolphins-derby-hope/832864/), so hopefully Frankie will be able to ride Dubai Prince.
) days, but not when his boss needs him.