Another Day, another Flat Card at Cagnes-Sur-Mer. Monday’s card saw Padron take out the opening race in the style of a good horse (and I’m not just saying that because I tipped him up on this blog) and he looks like he could be ready to emulate his famous half-brother Marianafoot and deliver the goods as an older horse. Tuesdays action sees another 8-race affair with plenty of competitive stuff and whilst there may not be a horse of the class of Padron on show, there are some decent races nonetheless. We start at 10:55 with a Class 3 conditions race for the 4-year-olds and if there is an above average horse entered on Tuesday, then he probably runs in this opening contest.
CAPE COD
4-year-old Gelding - trained by Antoine De Watrigant
HARAS DU LOGIS SAINT GERMAIN
French Fifteen x Lucky Game (Montjeu)
When he won on his debut at Clairefontaine in July last year he looked like one of the more exciting 3-year-old prospects in France. Things perhaps didn’t go to plan after that, with a 5th placed finish at Clairefontaine in August followed up by a 4th placed effort at Mont-de-Marsan when he was last seen in September. Whilst those runs look disappointing on the face of it, there were excuses on both occasions and he was pitched in at the deep end somewhat against some very solid and much more experienced horses. Clairefontaine is a quirky track that heavily favours horses who can race prominently and most importantly those that run against the stands side rail in the home straight. Cape Cod was held up and made his move down the centre of the home straight, so we can certainly forgive that 6-length defeat to Gagarin’s Moon on just his 2nd start.
He stepped up to 12-furlongs for his 3rd start at Mont-de-Marsan on very soft ground in September, when he was unfortunate enough to bump into the 39-rated Kergrist, who went on to finish 2nd in another Class 2 event on his next start. Cape Cod was again settled on rear, 8-lengths off the speed and whilst he ran all the way through the line, he was set an impossible task on deep ground and did well to quicken and make up any ground at all in the closing stages. Whilst that was a difficult experience for such an inexperienced horse, it confirmed that he stays the trip and he has been given 4-months to get over that effort and should find this course and going more to his liking. He is a son of Criterium International winner French Fifteen and a half-brother to 3 winners who won over shorter trips, which should bode well in a race that is likely to be tactical on Tuesday. His connections look to have found him a winnable opportunity on his return and now that he has had more time to mature, it will be disappointing if he can’t make his presence felt at this level before he goes up in class when the turf season gets going in a few weeks time.
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