I’ll start this piece with a bold statement. This horse will win the Grand Steeple Chase de Paris in May. I am sure that the connections of Grand Diose and a few others may disagree, but whilst this weekend's focus appeared to be on the demise of Il Est Francais at Auteuil, Kaadam was overlooked. He quietly went about his business to win the Prix Maurice Gillois by 6-lengths, his 7th win in 10 starts. This race has a very illustrious pedigree, with the likes of Milord Thomas (2013), So French (2015), Carriacou (2016), On the Go (2017) and Figuero (2019) all winning this before landing G1 races in open company. Kaadam has yet to prove himself in their class, but he is well on the way and probably produced the performance of the weekend to win this.
It is strange to think that this 4-year-old would probably be an Ante Post favourite for the Grand Steeple Chase de Paris if such a market existed. At a time when most National Hunt horses in the UK are being readied for a Point-to-Point or NHF debut, he has already run 10 times and earned over €536,000 in prize money for his connections.
He has looked a different horse this autumn, winning all 3 starts since September by a combined distance of 34-lengths and his closing sectionals on Saturday would suggest that he is more than capable of mixing it with the older horses in the Spring. He came home in splits of 28.67, 11.61 and 18.45s (taken between each obstacle from the 3rd last to the line), a total of 58.73s. That compares well with the other graded chase winners; Jeune Coko (59.23s) and Grand Diose (61.21s), though we should acknowledge that Grand Diose ran over an additional 5-furlongs in the Prix La Haye Jousselin. He is a sound jumper and a strong traveler and shapes like a horse who should cope with the step up in trip next year. The speed records provided by France Galop show that he clocked speeds of 51.5 and 50.9 km/h after the 2nd last, his highest figures of the race, confirming the visual impression that he had been able to conserve energy on the way round to use his finishing kick when it mattered.
Arnaud Chaille-Chaille is enjoying a wonderful renaissance this season and even in the absence of his superstar hurdler Theleme, he has still passed the €4.6m mark in prize-money in 2024 and would look to have an unassailable lead in the race to be champion trainer in France. After this weekend's performance, I’d be happy to say that Kaadam has now surpassed Theleme as the best horse in the yard.
If there is a caveat to add, it is perhaps that Kaadam was not at his peak in the early part of 2024. He was beaten fairly in the Prix Ferdinand Dufaure behind Kolociko in May, but I think we can excuse that performance. After returning in March, he missed the next 2-months and was sent straight into the Grade 1 at the Grand Steeple Chase meeting. He traveled strongly into the latter stages but simply didn’t have anything left after the 2nd last against race fit and more experienced rivals. With a less than ideal preparation, he was perhaps slightly short of match practice, but he has readily reversed that form in the autumn (Kolociko was 4th on Sunday, beaten 16-lengths) and there is no obvious reason to think that Kolociko will get the better of him as a 5-year-old.
If you haven’t followed the form of Kaadam yet, I have included a link below to his form with France Galop and it is worth taking a few minutes to look at this remarkable son of Saint des Saints. Whilst the shine may have been taken off Il Est Francais this weekend, French Racing would appear to have a ready made replacement in the Steeplechasing division.
