PRIX DES HERONNIERES

I wouldn’t normally be overly excited about a 4-year-old hurdle at Fontainebleau in February, especially with the first 3-year-old hurdles of the new season at Compiegne next week, but there were a couple of newcomers that really caught my eye in the Prix des Heronnieres and so I will make an exception for this race. This race did produce both Ivaldi (Paul Nicholls) and Mister Policeman (Willie Mullins) but as a general rule, it tends to produce horses that make their mark later on over fences. That’s perhaps not surprising given it is a Class 4 event that is effectively for late developing juvenile hurdlers, but there is a chance that a couple of these debutantes might be above the average level for this race.

Quart D’Espoir (4YO Filly by Nirvana du Berlais). I’ll start with the winner who is an interesting filly trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm. Her dam is a half-sister to 5 Black-Type winners and if you go back far enough you can find National Hunt types like the 2007 Ladbrokes Chase winner Whispered Secret (David Pipe). Wearing both a hood and tongue-tie on debut would raise a few question marks, but an SP of 6.6 PMU would suggest that she had at least been showing something at home. The early pace was reasonably strong and although we don’t have any sectional timing data at this track, the overall time was 9s quicker than the pair of 4-year-old Claiming Hurdles over the same course and distance earlier in the day. Initially settled behind the early pace, James Reveley brought her wide as they approached the 5th last so that she would have the inside rail to run against around the long sweeping bend. Her jumping could probably improve and she met both the 9th and 10th hurdles on the wrong stride, but once the pace lifted into the home straight, she jumped better and a good leap at the 3rd last was enough to put her in front. She idled and drifted between the last 2 and needed to be driven to keep her straight, but when the runner-up came to her she found more and was always holding on. The time figure generated a speed figure of 174 which would be around 10 points faster than the average for the course under these conditions and given her lack of experience, I think that it is a very solid start to her career.

Mai Dela Barriere (4YO Gelding by Choeur du Nord). He is an interesting gelding given that he is the Grandson of a US 9F winner (Black Truffle) from the family of the Champagne Stakes winner Close To You. He was given a very patient ride on his debut by Felix de Giles, riding him quietly and giving him a nice education. His jumping improved as the race wore on and although he was no match for the winner after the last, he finished his race well and should be open to plenty of improvement next time. Gab Leenders has yet to really hit top form in 2026 and has a record of just 5 winners from 78 runners (6.4%) compared to his 15.7% strike rate in 2025. I’d have no real concerns about the tongue-tie being on for debut as it is just a preference for Gab Leenders whose last 5 runners have all worn one. Mai Dela Barriere would look to be a very scopey type with plenty of size who is probably going to improve when he eventually goes over fences. With that in mind, it probably explains why he was making his debut as a 4-year-old, but he showed more than enough to suggest he can win a race over hurdles before he goes chasing and is worth tracking as a result.