"Willie Mullins and the Ricci’s have enjoyed some fantastic success with daughters of Great Pretender in the recent past (Lossiemouth, Benie des Dieux) and so when Momentum of Love made a winning debut in the Prix Gilbert Gallot at Auteuil, they were the most obvious buyers to swoop in".

"A winning margin of 20 lengths was a very fair reflection of just how dominant she was".

"Whilst her Group 1 entries may prove to be a step too far at this stage of her career, it does show the esteem with which she is held by her connections and I expect her to be more than capable of running at that level in 2027 if she continues to progress".

"He emerged with a lot of credit and should prove more than capable of winning a hurdle as a 3-year-old based on this evidence".

"Yes, he is a gelding and that is an important distinction to make, but he is an exceptional gelding and after this performance, he has the chance to be one of the leading milers in the years ahead".

"He is with the right trainer, in the right colours, with the right pedigree and so he has to be a horse to note for the new season as a result".

As a gelding, there are no stallion prospects to try and plot, so his connections can proceed without any trepidation and I would imagine that he will be given a test in Group 3 company at some point after this performance.

"If there is a future Group 1 winner in this 5 runner field, I think it is most likely to be him".

"He is one of the better prospects to have come out of the summer meetings and I do expect him to prove that if he is switched to Paris later in the year".

"I think he is more likely to make his mark over fences in a couple of years time than be a Triumph hurdle contender. However, he is one of a number of talented French youngsters that have joined the champion trainer this summer and is worthy of note for that point alone".

"She will have had an excellent grounding as a juvenile, so there are plenty of reasons for the O’Neill team to be optimistic about her future".

"Given that he has joined Gavin Cromwell, he is now on my “Fred Winter possibilities” list and I expect him to make his mark in a handicap at some point".

The bare result was enough to make me put a question mark next to this form in my notebook and whilst Mazzala may improve against better horses next time out, he may well be a shorter price than he should be because of the series of 1s next to his name.

"He is a good example of the value that can be found in the French Provinces and with the benefit of more experience, I think he has the potential to make up into a fair handicap hurdler".

"If his price were to hold at 2/1 or better, then I think that would make him a bet because he is a proven Group 1 performer running in a Listed race "

"He will now need to step out of 3-year-old company, but both his stamina and his willing attitude should stand him in good stead and at this point, he would look to be the best of the Classic generation in the UK".

"For the 2nd race in a row he has produced a career best performance over a 7 furlong trip and that is where I think he should remain for now".

There will be plenty of big name purchases on the list this year and as hard as Dan Skelton and his team have worked to recruit horses in the last 2 years, I still get the overriding sense that Willie Mullins simply does it better. However, if we take Closutton out of the equation, then there is no doubt in my mind that the best recruitment is going on at the Skelton yard and I have a small hunch that in securing SACRE CHEF, they might have recruited a talented horse. The for

"I’m going to just park the “G” next to his name for a moment and talk about the impressive debut that Operator made at Clairefontaine on Monday afternoon under Mickael Barzalona".

"I think that there is a very good chance that she will turn out to be a pattern class performer for her new connections and this race could have quite a significant interest on the Fillies division amongst the juveniles in the 2026-27 season".