The next horse that I wanted to add to the Tracker was an impressive winner of a newcomer’s hurdles at Pau today. At this time of year, as you can tell by the quick turnaround with this Blog post, it is relatively easy to stay on top of the Racing, especially as the dark evenings mean that the National Hunt Racing in France is normally completed by 2:30 in the afternoon. There have been some unexpected results at Pau so far this winter, which is not that unusual as it does tend to be a bit of a specialists track and that would make me cautious about any form here. However, it is possible to see an above average type and in Kiss Kiss, I think that Patrice Quinton has a talented filly for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.
A daughter of Ivanhowe, she made a fair impression when winning an AQPS Flat race at Durtal in December, but this was an even more impressive performance. Although the overall time was relatively slow, the final circuit time of 02:29.75 is below the course average and the more the pace lifted, the better she looked. Having hit the front at the 4th last, she was in total command as they turned for home and quickened again after the last to assert her dominance, going on to win by 3-lengths. Sent off the 4.2 favourite on the PMU, she certainly wasn’t winning this race out of turn. Even though it is a newcomer’s event and as such the form does need to be treated with some caution, the sense I have from watching the replay and looking at the time figures is that this was an above average piece of form for the time of year.
Her Dam was a Cross-Country specialist at Pau, and she has already produced the 5-time winner Illico. She is a half-sister to some fair National Hunt performers and there is enough on the page to suggest that Kiss Kiss has the breeding to go with her impressive start. It remains to be seen as to whether connections will try to take advantage of her current form to try and win another race at Pau or whether they will decide to wait for a more valubale prize at Auteuil in the Spring. Either way, Kiss Kiss is a name to note.
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