PRIX DE CARQUEIRANNE

We are into March, Cheltenham is over, the sun is finally shining and the 2-year-olds are back. This year's Juvenile season got underway on Tuesday morning at Marseille-Borely with the €10,500 Prix de Carqueiranne. There were 6 runners going to post and with no other form to use for comparison, the summary below can really only be used as a rough guide at best for this form. However, whilst I certainly won't be getting carried away with this form, there were 3 first season Sires having their first runners and a potentially above average winner to take note of.

PRIX DE CARQUEIRANNE

2YO “Inédits” - Marseille-Borely 18th March 2026 - 1,000m - €10,500

1st: WITCHWAY (C) - Sealiway x Were (Nathaniel) - Patrice Cottier

First crop of Sealiway. Dam a winner on debut over 1,200m at this course., half-sister to Woodstock City (Ian Williams). Grand-Dam Listed Placed over 1,000m. JPJ Dubois home-bred.

The winner is from the first crop of Sealiway and being a cross with a Nathaniel mare, he probably wouldn’t be expected to be a 5 furlong sprint winner, but this really was an impressive debut. He was the biggest horse in the field and dwarfed some of his rivals, especially the Fillies, but he broke smartly, settled nicely behind the pace and then quickened readily clear to win by over 2 lengths. Having traveled perfectly, this really was a “point n shoot” ride from Hugo Besnier, but Witchway created the impression that he could have been placed anywhere in this field and he would still have won. The McLloyd tracking data shows that he ran the fastest individual split in the field when he clocked 11.50s for the penultimate furlong and he recorded a top speed of 62.5 km/h in the straight. It would be very easy to get carried away with this performance and at this stage we have absolutely no idea about the horses that he has beaten, but as March Juvenile debuts go, this was really good and the fact that he was sent off at 2.6 Fav on the PMU would suggest that this wasn’t entirely unexpected.

2nd: DICANTO (C) - Dicaprio x Lady Fantasia (Decorated Knight) - Christophe Escuder

First Crop of Dicaprio. Dam a winner over 1,300m (began her career with Roger Varian). Grand-Dam (Lady Wingshot) was a G3 winner over 7f for Jim Bolger.

Jumped slightly to his right when the stalls opened and having bumped into his rival, he was forced to sit and suffer at the rear of the 6 runner field. To be fair, he has made some good late headway by tracking the winner through, although he was no match for Witchway in the final furlong. The draw in stall 1 and the fact he jumped to his right didn’t help, but he ran to a fair level in the latter stages.

3rd: BODY PHYSICAL (F) - Marianafoot x Wodiac (Kodiac) -  Christophe Escuder

First crop of Marianafoot. Dam a winner over 1,800m. Half-sister to Listed placed Cadogan (Joseph O’Brien).

Had to be driven into stride in the opening furlong and having been unable to get across, she was forced to race wide of the winner around the turn. Having covered an extra 3 m according to the McLloyd data, this wasn’t a bad effort against a very professional rival. She certainly showed more than her stablemate Amazing Surprise (5th) and this was a promising start.

4th: MELLO MELLO (F) - Saxon Warrior x Baileys Princess (Kingman) - Mathieu Pitart

2nd Foal. Dam an unraced half-sister to Prix Jean Prat winner Mutual Trust (2011). Cost €31,000 as a yearling at Arqana.

5th: AMAZING SURPRISE (F) - Chachnak x Fernobia (Teofilo) - Christophe Escuder

6th Foal. Half-Sister to French 12f winner Fernoboy and French Hurdle winner Son of Rajsa. Dam 11 race maiden. Half-Sister to 7f Listed winner Blue Blue Sky.

6th: CORBUSIER (C) - Sealiway x Phoceene (Olympic Glory) - Patrice Cottier

First Crop of Sealiway. Half-brother to French Sprint winner Pastisse (2nd in this race in 2024). Dam a Listed winner over 2,000m. Half-Sister to Listed placed Phoceen. Wears Blinkers and a Tongue-Tie.