GRAND PRIX DE VICHY

When looking through the form for this race, I was surprised to see that Mont de Soleil was running over the 10-furlong trip for only the 3rd time. Whilst he has run well over 12-furlongs, he has shown plenty of speed in the closing stages of his races and although he had been beaten at 2,000m before Wednesdays success, as a son of Siyouni there was a fair bit of hope from his pedigree that he would be able to handle this trip. So it proved as he was given a superb ride by Mickael Barzalona, who was at pains to get his mount a lead to settle him. That lead was provided by the ever consistent Cambronne, who led the field into the home straight before Barzalona made the decision to kick in the turbo at the furlong pole. Cambronne was ridden along the inside rail in the straight and that probably finished his chances as the centre of the course seemed to be the place to head for. However, he was slower than the winner over each of the last 3-furlongs, closing his race in 35.39s from the 600m pole and is unlikely to have held on regardless of where he was ridden.

The most impressive part of this victory was the speed shown by Mont de Soleil in the home straight, as he ran the fastest furlong in the race when he recorded 10.91s for the penultimate split. A winning time of 2:02.82 made this the fastest winning time for the Grand Prix de Vichy since the France-Galop records were started for this race in 2011. That acceleration got him to the front and meant that he had enough in hand over the fast finishing Casapueblo to hold on. Both the runner-up and the 3rd placed Woodchuck emerge from this race with a lot of credit given they were ridden more patiently and actually finishing their race with faster final quarters than Mont de Soleil. This was a good performance from Casapueblo, but this is what he does. He won his first 2 races for Andre Fabre and he consistently hits the frame in Listed company, but he is 0-10 since that impressive start to his career and so whilst he did finish his race in eye-catching fashion, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is a winner in waiting. Woodchuck is slightly more interesting given that he had a penalty to concede for a Group 3 success in Rome in June and having been given a very patient ride by Antonio Orani, he made a lot of progress in the straight. His best form has come in Italy and his record now reads as 1-10 in French pattern company, but he was only 6th in this race 12-months ago and looks to be running to his peak form at present. Whilst he may not be improving at the age of 5, he is running consistently and it’s not impossible to think that he will hit the frame again if running at this level in France later in the year. Tito Mo Cen was the only 3-year-old in the contest and at halfway, he looked like he might play a hand but he found very little for pressure when asked. It’s possible that the ground was quick enough for him, recorded at 3,3 on the penetrometer, but his best form came on the All-Weather in March and he needs to prove that he is capable of running at this level. A rating of 46.5-kilos looks inflated at this stage, though after just 4 starts he clearly has time on his side.

If I were to summarise this race, I would start by saying that the right horse won. Mont de Soleil is a very capable performer at this level and the fact that he has now won over 2,000m does open some further options to him. However, we know an awful lot about the horses that he has beaten and neither of them can be considered to be improving types. This was close to a career best, but he will need to improve again if he is to win above this level.