PRIX DE L'HIPPODROME DE MACHECOUL

PRIX DE L'HIPPODROME DE MACHECOUL

Machecoul - 8/3/2026 - “Tres Souple 4,1”

4-5YO AQPS - 2,950m - €4,000

3:29.65 (Réduction KM 1:11.60)

There are plenty of better races to watch this week both in France and of course at Cheltenham, but I would also add that there is some benefit to spending a few minutes looking at the principles in Sundays AQPS race at Machecoul. The track, for those who don’t know, is a tight turning left-handed circuit which is just about a mile round. With such tight bends, the races here can often develop into sprints but given that they race so early in the year, it can offer one of the first opportunities to get a horse on to the turf.

This was a €4,000 race and so the lower level of the form needs to be taken into account, but there were a couple of debutantes at the head of the field to catch my eye and they may develop into better types as the season progresses.

Mi Ami Jap (Dubourg) made a winning debut and the first point to note is that the time was reasonable, clocking a final time that was 14s faster than the 3-year-olds over the same course and distance. The 3-year-olds went slowly, but having raced prominently throughout I think we can gain some confidence from the way that Mi Ami Jap galloped through the line. She is a King Edward filly from a family that Christophe Dubourg knows very well having trained both the dam and half-sister to win races. The dam side of her pedigree is largely one of chasers and cross-country types and given the way that she kept on in the home straight, I would imagine that she will prove to be a decent type to step up in trip as a 5-year-old. This was a promising start, albeit at a relatively low level and there should be more races in the provinces to be won with her, though whether she can step up beyond that is harder to tell. Wore a Tongue-Tie.

Joyeuse Blue (Baudron) was the horse to take from this contest. She came from much further back than the winner and had to work very hard to close on the winner. Under a relatively gentle ride from Astrid Peltier, she closed nicely having been as much as 6 lengths behind the pace at the end of the back straight to finish a “never-nearer” 2-length runner-up. She is also a King Edward filly out of a dual hurdles winner (La Joyeuse Sage). The dam won at Auteuil and is a half-sister to the multiple US hurdle winner L’Imperator. Having watched this race a couple of times, I am of the opinion that with a more forceful ride she may well have won. The field came home at wide intervals and the vast majority of the runners with experience were beaten a very long way. However, the front 2 did come nicely clear in the final furlong and the time figure was reasonably good. Joyeuse Blue is the horse that I will be adding to the tracker for next time and I do expect her to be capable of winning a race in the early part of the season.

As a small side note, both the Fillies were in receipt of weight from the geldings that finished 3rd and 4th, mainly courtesy of their riders claims.