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I think Youmzain has shown that he should take his record of silver medals in the Arc to 4.
Jean Prat on Sunday looks better than most years. Lope de V rematch with Dick Turpin, Siyouni/Xtension/Hearts of F have chance to show if they have just been unlucky or were all well-beaten so far this season.
Good 2yo race earlier on the card as well, the Bois. Miss Liberty has been strong this season, but she will need to watch out for Dream Catcher, Keratiya and perhaps most of all, Irish Field from south of the Pyrenees.
It’s true, Goldi is definitely special, but Zarkava had to be much better, because her victory in the Pouliches wasn’t even her ideal distance.
Well, Gosden & Webers are presumably thinking of the GP de Saint-Cloud for Dar Re Mi, because that 12f is more suited to her than the Eclipse’s 10f. No doubt, their hesitancy to travel to France is influenced by the events of last year’s Vermeille, but I doubt that they are so melodramatic with indignation as to imagine that they are the specific target of French steward conspiracies. Practically speaking, their horse and their purses would probably be better served by going to Saint-Cloud, and that will be weighed against their lingering bitterness.
Either way, I am sure the King George will still be on her agenda.
I think Johannes Vermeer will probably do it. I wondered if Puncher Clynch could do it, but I remember Bolger saying that he wasn’t a G1 horse after the Ballysax. Or am I remembering incorrectly…
The big question is whether Moore will take the ride on Harbinger or Workforce.
I will also be hoping that Dettori rides Rewilding rather than one of the Suroor horses, but I have a feeling he will be on Cutlass Bay.
Dar Re Mi would be the main danger is she runs, but heard nothing from connections
Gosden is watching the Paris weather, may run Dar Re Mi there on Sunday or in the Eclipse, says he’ll decide tomorrow.
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/j-h-m-gosden-france-gosden-watches-weather-in-paris-for-dar-re-mi/733159/latest/GP de Saint-Cloud entries:
1 youmzain ire m.ps. 7 ans P2 58 565 JABEER ABDULLAH MR. CHANNON 1.233.195
2 allied powers ire m.ps. 5 ans P2 58 000 DAVID FISH/EDWARD WARE MLW. BELL 179.375
3 pouvoir absolu (gb) m.ps. 5 ans P2 58 515 ECURIE WILDENSTEIN E. LELLOUCHE 187.075
4 timos ger m.ps. 5 ans P2 58 485 MISE DE MORATALLA T. DOUMEN (S) 74.150
5 mores wells gb m.ps. 6 ans P2 58 495 MME CATHERINE O’FLYNN R. GIBSON 101.212
6 crowded house gb m.ps. 4 ans P2 58 000 REDDAM/MME BURRELL/HARVEY BJ. MEEHAN 79.081
7 daryakana f.ps. 4 ans P2 56,5 530 S.A. AGA KHAN A.DE ROYER DUPRE 879.076
8 high heeled ire f.ps. 4 ans P2 56,5 000 G. STRAWBRIDGE/J. WIGAN J. GOSDEN 160.716
9 celimene (ire) f.ps. 4 ans P2 56,5 505 GERARD LABOUREAU C. LERNER (S) 202.060
10 dar re mi gb f.ps. 5 ans P2 56,5 545 LORD LLOYD WEBBER J. GOSDEN 2.753.288
11 plumania (gb) f.ps. 4 ans P2 56,5 510 WERTHEIMER & FRERE A. FABRE 291.945Although I think I read that Crowded House will probably not run, and Gosden is watching the weather for DRM. Daryakana’s stated objective after this is the King Geroge, although I assume it is contingent on her performance here.
Malleret entries (possible pointers to the Irish Oaks):
1 SHAMANOVA IRE F.PS. 3 ans 56 000 S.A. AGA KHAN A.DE ROYER DUPRE 31.300
2 lady’s purse gb f.ps. 3 ans P2 56 465 CHEIK MOHAMMED AL MAKTOUM HA. PANTALL 74.500
3 dariole f.ps. 3 ans P2 56 495 MME PATRICK BARBE P. BARY (S) 67.400
4 never forget f.ps. 3 ans P2 56 485 CLAUDE COHEN E. LELLOUCHE 56.500
5 pearl away f.ps. 3 ans P1 56 000 ECURIE VICTORIA DREAMS Y.DE NICOLAY 49.000
6 peacoat gb f.ps. 3 ans P2 56 465 GODOLPHIN SNC A. FABRE 48.100
7 OEKAKI F.PS. 3 ans 56 370 P.BELLAICHE/Y.BARBEROT Y. BARBEROT 28.450When they have been good enough they have won, when they have lost it has been because they have not been good enough.
Thank you, Aidan. Someone who agrees that your namesake losing a bunch of races he wanted to win is not a cosmic conspiracy.
No, I don’t think she is worth that price. Murtagh only chose her over Cabaret, which doesn’t say much to me. After their performances at Epsom, plus the toll that course takes on a young horse…can’t have them. I think it might even be a bit soon for GertBell, who I like otherwise.
I think Principal Role is over-priced, Cecil has given her time to get here, and Eldalil is good e/w value. On pedigree, Fatanah doesn’t look like she will make it home.
Indeed, Vive La Goldikova, Vive Le Guyon. Both are in very "chaud" form.
Entries for the Jean Prat (as well as the Bois – good 2yo race – and Chloe) are due today. In light of all the fantastic 8f competition this year, will be interesting to see which 3yos are sent to Chantilly on July 4th.
Andy, you should know you are coming off as a Ballydoyle-apologist.
It seems to me that you are attributing Ballydoyle’s failures in the big G1 races to either a virus in the stable or an "unknowable" factor. It seems to me that most others are attributing Ballydoyle’s failures in many of the big G1 races to their horses not being good enough, despite the fact that AOB has hyped them. Now just because AOB has won G1 after G1 in other years, does not mean it will happen every year. This year, he thinks his horses are very good, but other than FAG, he is
thus far
wrong. Now it is possible that SNA/Steinbeck/JVermeer/CBlanco/RVW will eventually come good (or show their form of last year), and it is possible that they won’t, but what is undeniable is that during the first part of the season, they have simply not been as good as AOB thought/said. And this is where you seem to have a problem; you cannot accept that AOB’s horses have failed to live up to the hype. Rather than admitting that AOB or his horses have any shortcomings, you seem to be clutching at straws to explain the failures.
If there was a virus/bug/malady, AOB would definitely use that to excuse the poor performances. Conclusion: no virus. If there is some "unknowable" factor that has prevented AOB’s genius from shining through this year, then there doesn’t seem to be much point to our analyses of statistics, pedigrees, form, trends, intuition and conformation. We should just sit back and watch the irrational events unfold.
I think all this really shows is that (1) AOB – while immensely talented – is very fallible, contrary to the hype from certain quarters, and (2) just as you have purple patches (25 G1s in a year!!!!! no matter how good you are, things have to go your way for that), you also have…non-purple (?) patches.
Canford Cliffs phenomenal.
Dick Turpin very tough, how can you not like this horse.
Makfi came back with an inflamed throat – would be brilliant to see Makfi/CC/LDV along with older horses in August.Mosse is a disgrace to racing. He’s on the only horse with a chance of beating Sarafina and instead of keeping that filly posted three wide throughout without cover he eases back, lets the favourite in, then positions himself on the fence instead of remaining in the running lane. What’s the point of racing when one jockey doesn’t compete but simply hands the race to a stablemate.
You may consider the obvious truth, that is there for all to see, as "a bit harsh" – I don’t. We need more outspoken "harshness" in this game not more censorship
Looks like harshness for harshness’ sake to me, with no real justification. It is quite absurd to suggest that Mosse stuggling to find a gap is an "obvious truth" of his non-competitiveness. You can’t read his mind. If he had raced three wide and still not caught Sarafina, no doubt you would have attacked him for the extra distance he had to cover. Watch the race, and it is quite clear (although I won’t call it an "obvious truth") that he almost found a gap on the rail, before Deluxe jinked right, and then again as Sarafina was passing Zagora, Zag jinked left into Sarafina so Mosse was blocked again. It looks like he rode to win, and it looks like Rosie doesn’t have the gears that the winner does.
I think that bookies often take big talk from trainers at more value than racecourse performance. Viz, Hannon has been talking up "best-ever" storms about Canford Cliffs, while Delzangles is either a more demure fellow or his braggadocio just hasn’t been translated over from the French press, thus CC shorter than Makfi. Hannon has also talked down Dick Turpin in relation to CC (despite the former beater the latter with no excuses twice), thus CC shorter than DT.
From what I can tell, the bookies also favour pronouncements from certain trainers more than others. Workforce received so much ante-post hype after a simple maiden (impressive, but just a maiden) because of Stoute’s opinion. AOB’s talked-up horses always get very short in the market. On the other hand, an understated fellow like John Oxx who spoke of something special in his yard before last year’s 2000 Guineas was not given much attention (perhaps that will have changed since STS’s exploits).
I am not condemning the practice – clearly it often works, as evidenced in a case like Workforce. But we need to show our own judgment as well. So for me, Steinbeck’s participation says less about his trainer’s regard for him (AOB is not very discriminating in throwing horses at G1s) than Siyouni’s participation (ARD is a lot more discriminating in sending his horses to G1s outside of France). And Delzangles’ remarks on Makfi may not have the superlatives that Hannon has used for CC, but I agree with you, Makfi should be slightly favoured to win.
I don’t think Planteur will have a problem staying. It is not that rare for Giant’s Causeway to impart a little stamina, and although rarer in the case of Danehill Dancer, it does happen once in a while, and looks like Planteur is one of those cases. Which means this could be a surprisingly hot GP de Paris.
Thanks for the summaries, Zenjah. This one is definitely going to enter my vocabulary:
Lope de Vega gave a jerk decisive
Paco Boy, who looks as good as ever this year
I think Paco Boy is actually better than ever this year, and Hannon thinks the same. And several of AOB’s big hopes have been lukewarm first-time-out, so I think there is a good chance RVW will not be in the first 2. In fact, maybe not even the first 3 because I think Dalghar could be a solid e/w – ARD has an excellent record at Ascot.
Air Trooper.
He is definitely one that I am following:
I think it is definitely too early in the season to guess at the 3yos (too much unknown with Rewilding, SNA, Air Trooper, Jan Vermeer, Behkabad, etc etc etc) but I think it is not entirely unreasonable to start speculating about the older horses. Fairly clear that trainers of Daryakana, Dar Re Mi, FAG, Youmzain will try to get them to the Arc if they can.
Until last month, I thought Godolphin would at least leave him in the safe hands of Fabre until Dubai-time over the winter (like Cavalryman last year), but the recent mid-season transfers of CB/AS/SdM/Rew indicate that a Grand Prix de Paris victory for Air Trooper could unfortunately prompt a switch from Fabre to one of the Emirati trainers. To me, this would take the lustre off AT’s ante-post appeal. Of course it’s very early to anticipate all this. I am also keeping a beady eye on Shimraan (impressive maiden winner, just like Air Trooper) whom AT only beat by a head in the Prix de L’Avre, and who re-opposes in the Lys on Sunday.