Derby du Languedoc Preview

It’s Derby du Languedoc day at Toulouse on Wednesday. The Listed feature is a 3-year-old contest over 12-furlongs and whilst it wouldn’t be right to class this as a trial for the Prix du Jockey Club or the Grand Prix de Paris, it is a €55,000 race that gives us a chance to compare the form of some of the better 3-year-old prospects in the South of France.

There are 9-runners heading to post for this year’s renewal, but I think we can split them into 2 groups, those still on the way up and those who have already shown their hand. The likes of Killary King, Senorito and Scottie the Hottie began the year running at southern tracks like Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Tarbes and did well, but by the time we get to May, the standard and depth of the 3-year-old races has definitely improved and as such, their limitations have been exposed. The extra distance may help one or more of them to find some improvement, but I think the percentage calls to focus on the less exposed types at this stage.

I’ll begin with Flying Free. He was 3rd on debut here in March behind the subsequent Listed winner Rabbit’s Foot. He was further back than ideal that day and had little chance to close on a winner who made every yard, but he finished in 34.64s from the 3-furlong pole, the fastest finishing splits in the field and could be considered an unlucky loser. He made amends for that when finishing strongly to win a maiden over the same course and distance a few weeks later and that form was boosted when the 4th placed Roman won at Tarbes last week. He is a half-brother to Birr Castle (Andre Fabre) and there are plenty of black-type performers in his pedigree to think that he will be capable of running well at this level. However, the form is at Toulouse and having been dropped in on both starts to date in maiden company, he is going to find it harder to come from the back in this company if they decide to adopt the same tactics.

Kirchner won on debut at Chantilly in September, but he hasn’t really built on that in 3 starts since. He was perhaps a little unfortunate to bump into Parachutiste at Paris Longchamp last time and I think that time will prove that he was outclassed by a rival like that on the day. However, even under a hands ride, he didn’t shape like a winner in waiting and his earlier form at Pau and La Teste has shown him to be vulnerable to a genuine turn-of-foot. I like Ponderado who was 4th in the Group 3 Prix de Conde at Chantilly in September and who has largely held his form since. He was 3rd behind Midak in April and the bare form would suggest that he should be competitive here, but he did drift to his left under pressure, inconveniencing the runner-up in the process (Avide) and despite racing prominently in a steadily run race, he was caught out for speed in the straight. This looks to be the right kind of race for him, but for all his “solid form”, he has only won a Clairefontaine maiden in his 6 starts and even as one of the more likely pace angles, he seems vulnerable.

Croquis is the fastest horse in this field. Although he is out of a Galileo mare, he has inherited Pinatubo’s speed and looks more than capable of winning at Listed level. He finished 5th on debut at Saint-Cloud, but he was beaten just over a length in a messy race and soon rectified that with a comfortable success at Lyon. His latest start is the piece of form that really stands out. He finished 2nd to Surabad in the Listed Prix de L’Avre at Paris Longchamp, pushing his rival all the way to the line to be beaten under a length, with the 45.5-kilo rated Military Air a further 2-lengths back in 3rd. He found plenty of speed in the straight, despite being pushed slightly wide at the 2-furlong pole and closing splits of 11.26, 10.57 and 11.54s saw him 0.45s faster than the winner for the final 600m. A top speed of 66.5 km/h makes him very dangerous in this field and provided that Maxime Guyon can get him into a good position behind the pace, he should have too much speed for his rivals. The soft ground shouldn’t be any real concern, as he won at Lyon on going described as “Collant”. He holds an entry in the Group 3 Prix du Lys on French Oaks day next month and could be a horse to watch out for in that race if he wins this as he should.