Although the Group 1 action on Sunday took centre stage, as I have mentioned in previous posts, the ratings model that I am using doesn't yet give accurate enough results for the turf racing. So, whilst many people were watching the turf, I was sat patiently waiting for the races run on the PSF track towards the end of both of this weekends card. I have grouped the 2 days together as we had a total of 5 races on the All-Weather this weekend, but in truth there is only one race that caught my eye and it comes from the most unlikely source.
Like many punters and analysts I would normally exercise a lot of caution when looking at form from an amateur riders race, but the Prix Georges Courtois run at Deauville on Saturday warrants more attention. This was a Class 3 contest for Gentleman Amateur Riders and the race was won by Pannetone under Mr. Florent Guy. She is a 5-year-old Filly by Zanzibari who has won 4 of her 15 starts for Julien Phelippon. On the bare form there is nothing out of the ordinary so far. She was sent off the 3/1 second favorite in the International markets and after being given a patient ride, she came with a strong late finish to win by 4-lengths. Now let's look at the ratings and this is where it gets interesting.
The winner ran a time of 1:57.17, just 1.27s outside the course standard, despite the fact that all of the runners carried considerably more weight than usual due to the conditions for the Amateur riders races. Pannetone had 65.5-kilos on her back, whilst the 3rd, 4th and 5th carried even more, which is considerably more than the riding weight of 60-kilos which the standard times are based on. Each of the first 7 runners produced a rating above 100 and whilst the winner was clearly on top in the closing stages, the combination of the weight that she received from her rivals and the patient ride that she received may have meant she was slightly flattered by the winning margin. Huge credit needs to go to the 5th placed Lepard and the 6th placed Racing Glory, who did the majority of the pace setting between them and who ultimately paid for those efforts in the closing stages. When they return to regulation handicaps next time, with lower riding weights, both will be of interest and this piece of form is one that I will be following closely over the coming weeks.
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