PRIX CHAPEAU ROUGE - AVEC TOI

PRIX CHAPEAU ROUGE

Saint-Cloud - 2/6/2026 - “Souple 3,5” (raining)

2YO “inédits” Maiden - 1,400m - €13,700

1:30.41 (Réduction KM 1:04.57)

A maiden that correctly revolved around just 1 horse, AVEC TOI. Coolmore owned, he is a No Nay Never Colt out of La Jaconde (Frankel), who finished 3rd in both the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille for Aidan O’Brien. Sent off at 3.2 favourite on the PMU, his backers had very few moments of concern as Maxime Guyon was able to make his way across from a high draw to move across to lead on the inside rail as they began to round the bottom turn. It was a simple matter from that point onwards and when asked to stretch, Avec Toi lengthened clear and although the winning margin was only 4 lengths, it could easily have been 10 but for Maxime Guyon easing up in the difficult conditions and allowing his mount to canter for the last 50 yards. I cannot remember seeing a 2-year-old catch the eye like this, especially in difficult conditions with rain falling throughout the race. I have said several times that I have been waiting for the French 2-year-old stars to emerge and whilst we have seen some nice horses, there is a very good chance that Avec Toi could prove to be in a different class altogether. He is one of four horses that Coolmore have placed with Christopher Head (source: France Galop), including another No Nay Never colt called Merci Mille Fois. It’s a solid start to his career and whilst he was beating a field on newcomers and it’s hard to assess the form as a result, taking the old adage that they can’t all be bad, he put this race to bed with such ease that it’s hard to imagine that he isn’t an above average type.

I will also be adding CICERON (2nd) to my notepad. On the basis that he may well have bumped into an above average type, I thought he ran a fine race as he made good ground from the middle of the pack to finish a clear 2nd. A winning margin of 4 lengths does flatter him slightly given how heavily the winner was eased, but his penultimate furlong was a clear 2nd according to the McLloyd data. A Lope de Vega colt, he is a half-brother to Argentella who made a winning debut for Andre Fabre in 2025 and his dam, Calculatrice, is a half-sister to 6 winners, 5 of which earned black type and is herself a daughter of the excellent Galileo broodmare Mathematicienne. An SP of 4.7 PMU would suggest that Ciceron had been showing plenty at home and having been given a lot to do by Alexis Pouchin, I thought he did well to finish as close as he did. He almost certainly ran to a level that would be enough to win a €13k maiden on most occasions and with a mor prominent ride, he should gain compensation next time with the step up to a mile likely to suit.