The turf season in Paris got underway at Saint-Cloud on Thursday with the Rose de Mai card. This is the traditional starting point for the Flat season in the North and features a pair of Listed races. This year's races featured a couple of Group 1 winners, Marhaba Ya Sanafi (2023 Poule d'Essai des Poulains) and Lazzat (2024 Prix Maurice de Gheest) as well as the very exciting 3-year-old filly, Audubon Park. The meeting takes place in early March and as a result, there can sometimes be an overreaction to the strength of this form because it is the first chance we get to see genuine Group 1 performers each year.
I won't start this year's Paris season with a negative view, merely a note of caution that there is "a lot of water to pass under the bridge" before we get to the Group 1 races in May. However, as you will see from my notes below, there are lots of reasons to be positive about this form in the weeks to come.
Winner | Time | Réduction KM | Final 3-Furlongs |
Audubon Park | 138.45 | 69.22 | 38.28 |
Vertbois | 107.59 | 67.24 | 38.39 |
PRIX ROSE DE MAI
Audubon Park remains unbeaten. Soumillon very fortunate to avoid coming down when going for a tight gap on the inside rail at the 400-metre pole. Boxed in behind the leader for the opening mile, she was slightly fortunate to get the gap having been unable to switch wide, but once clear, she readily pulls 4-lengths clear of the rest. The 3 Fillies that were in front turning into the home straight have all finished tailed off, beaten at least 15-lengths or more. Audubon Park, once in the clear, has quickened significantly to come home in 12.27 and 12.96s under a hands ride, both ranked 1.
Kiamba (2nd) has chased the winner through and given that this was just her 2nd start, she has run with credit, although she seems unlikely to reverse the form with the winner. The form of her Deauville debut in December is working out, she confirmed the form with Defully (4th) here and the 3rd has won since too. As an Australia filly, she might be expected to get further in time and should at least win a maiden over 2,000m in the coming weeks.
Soccer Sister (3rd) had scrambled home to win on debut at Chantilly in February and took a step forwards here. Running towards the rear, she has kept on with the far side rail to help to finish 3rd, beaten 7-lengths. A solid run, but her top speed of 57.4 km/h was considerably slower than the 58.9 km/h recorded by the winner in the straight.
Out of Africa (5th) was a 3-time winner as a juvenile. She kept on having been outpaced, but a rating of 40-kilos does perhaps flatter her and comes from a pair of C2 wins at Craon and Angers in the autumn that haven’t worked out since. She may pick up some black-type outside of Paris, but she lacks the scope for improvement of those ahead of her.
Race Finishing Speed 108.46%
PRIX ALTIPAN
Vertbois was the first winner of 2025 for Andre Fabre. Has now won 4 of his 8 starts, though this was just his 2nd start in Pattern company. He had run as recently as December, so perhaps had a slight advantage over the G1 winners with fitness, but off level weights, he has stayed on best to lead in the final strides. He is perhaps a slight beneficiary of the fact that the 2nd and 4th have been involved in a long battle from the 2-furlong pole and are tiring at the point that he is finishing fast on the outside.
Marhaba Ya Sanafi (2nd) won this race in 2024 and ran at least as well here. Sat behind the pace before making his challenge at the 2-furlong pole. Paid for the exertions, but did manage to get on top of Lazzat (4th) in the final furlong before being run down by the winner. Gives this form a solid look.
Arguably a career best from Short Final (3rd) who has a superb record at Saint-Cloud (2,1,1,1,3). Ridden to challenge later and worth noting that having been alongside the winner with 2-furlongs to run, he has lost 0.34s over those final 2-furlongs.
Lazzat (4th) clearly the class horse in the race. Slightly keen in the early stages which probably wasn’t ideal on this ground. Led turning in and was asked for maximum effort, kept on well on his first start since running in Hong Kong in December. A mile does stretch his stamina, especially on this ground, but ran well considering he made the running.
Race Finishing Speed 105.07%
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