There are around 5-weeks left in the National Hunt season in Paris. The Grade 1 weekend at Auteuil in the middle of November tends to bring the jumps season to a climax before it heads south for the winter. That's especially true with the 3-year-olds, whose season peaks with the G1 Prix Cambaceres on that weekend. This feels like a very unusual season in France for the juveniles. In most years, we see plenty of superstars running in the Spring and then the majority of them are sold to the UK and Ireland and things feel a lot calmer in the autumn. However, with perhaps a couple of notable exceptions, it feels like the better 3-year-olds have stayed in France this time around.
This Sundays card at Auteuil featured a couple of key trials for the 3-year-olds, the Prix Magne and the Prix Georges de Talhouet-Roy. I'll start with the Colts and Geldings. I have no idea what to make of them! In the Spring, it seemed that Nietzsche Has was leading the way, but he just isn't the same horse 5-months later and whilst I was prepared to forgive his poor showing last month, he ran a very similar race to finish 3rd here. I would still rate his form from the Spring as some of the best on offer in 2024 and I would be happy to state that he has gone backwards rather than that form having been proven to be below par, but there is no hiding the fact that he has been found wanting in both runs this autumn. If he is to go to stud next year, his connections now have a decision to make with regards to his racing career.
The race was won by Kivala du Berlais, who has been gradually improving for David Cottin and who now finds himself as the leading 3-year-old gelding in France. He was a clear best on the day, even if we should make allowance for the fact that he was able to get to the stands rail, which always helps at Auteuil when the ground is heavy. He will probably be the favourite for the Prix Cambaceres next month on the back of this, but given that Nietszche Has ran below par (again) and last months winner D'Jins came down, I am inclined to question this form. Apollon du Luy (4th) ran a flat race and shaped like a horse who didn't appreciate the deeper ground as he struggled to quicken in the latter stages of the race. Add all of that together and I wonder what this form will be worth. If I am taking a horse from this race, it is the 2nd placed Sain D'Espirit. He won the Prix Champaubert back in April and has been steadily improving with each run this autumn. This looked to be another step forwards as he easily reversed the form with Apollon du Luy and the soft ground looked to help his cause. Francois Nicolle is bringing him along nicely and he could be the horse to peak in November when it matters.
Now we can move on to the Fillies. This is where it gets exciting as we appear to have a group of top class 3-year-old Fillies in France and in the Prix Magne on Sunday, Zaine climbed to the top of the pile. She is a Saint des Saints filly from the family of Zaidpour (Willie Mullins) who is trained by Dominique Bressou and who has been carefully campaigned over the summer to give her time to improve. She readily reversed the form with Olympic Story from their meeting in the Prix de Chambly last month and stamped her class on what looked to be an above average renewal of this race. The soft ground did help. The connections of Olympic Story were clearly keen to try to teach her to settle, but having held her together, she was simply too keen at times and the deeper ground blunted her speed. As a result, despite travelling prominently, when Angelo Zuliani pushed the button approaching the 2nd last, there was nothing there. She is a top class filly in her won right, but unlike last month, she wasn't able to use her speed and a final circuit time that was 10-seconds slower this time around would suggest that she may need a slighter better surface. However, that can't take anything away from the winner who produced a superb display, travelling strongly to take up the lead as she approached the last and then pulling 9-lengths clear on the run to the line. The time comparisons below show that she at least matched the Colts and Geldings and if she were to repeat that effort next month, she is going to be very hard to beat.
Comments