When JP McManus opens his cheque book everyone in the racing world should sit up and take notice. Meetingofthewaters would be the most recent example and although he did not land the Ultima at the Cheltenham festival, he came pretty close. He is starting to make a few waves in France too. Milan Tino was a high profile purchase last summer. He perhaps lacks the turn-of-foot to make it at the highest level as a 4-year-old hurdler, but he is going to make up into a lovely chasing prospect in time. When the British handicapper decided to drop him 10lbs in the weights it really left his connections with no choice but to take a chance in the Boodles last week. He ran his usual race; he simply didn’t have the speed to live with some of the Flat-bred types who had been campaigned to get a favorable mark with this race in mind. Once he gets to step up in trip, he is sure to improve. So, sticking with the theme of JP McManus horses who are trained in France by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, it is time we talked about Kloth of Utopia.
When looking at the pedigree of this horse there is one name that stands out, Theleme. Kloth of Utopia is a half-brother to the superstar of French jumps racing. If we are being honest, Theleme is the most notable name on this page by a considerable distance, but it is no surprise to see that his siblings have begun to attract a lot of attention in the market. A fancy pedigree is one thing, but he still needs to deliver on the track and that brings me to his debut at Auteuil last Sunday. Understandably, there was a considerable amount of social media interest in this horse, but I didn’t expect to see him pitched right in at the deep end for his debut. His connections could have run him in a debutante’s race here on 3rd March, the Prix Rohan, a race that he held an entry for. Instead, Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm chose to wait a fortnight and run him in the Grade 3 Prix D’Indy instead.
Was this a fact-finding mission? Well, an SP of 31 on the PMU would suggest that it was, but even so this debut must have really pleased his connections and he certainly didn’t look out of place at this level. He settled nicely towards the rear of mid-division and seemed to have no issues keeping up with what turned out to be an honest pace. Still on the bridle as they rounded the final turn, he briefly looked like playing a hand in the finish before fading into 4th place, beaten just under 16-lengths by the winner Leon du Berlais. This was a very deep renewal of this Grade 3 and the 3 horses who finished ahead of him were vastly more experienced and had form in pattern company already on their CVs. The run can be upgraded further by the fact that James Reveley chose to race down the centre of the home straight, away from the stands side rail. Timeform have given him a rating of 134 for this debut, which looks more than fair. He has a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the same sentence as Theleme, but this was a very pleasing start.