PRIX DU CHAMP DE MARS - Temptable

A Class 2 event over a mile, on paper this looked to be a better race than the grade might suggest and there were a couple of runners with claims to develop into group horses later in the season. Top of that list must be the winner, Temptable. It’s certainly not unusual to see Francis-Henri Graffard in the winners enclosure after a 3-year-old race in France this season, but the leading trainer and Juddmonte must have been delighted to get this daughter of Kingman back on track. She was a winner on the PSF at Chantilly in March and had run creditably without looking like winning in a pair of races at Paris Longchamp in the early part of the turf season. Initially she looked like she may have reached her peak, but her 5th placed finish in the Listed Prix Finlande (beaten 4.5-lengths) looks a lot better now given the way that the winner, Cankoura, performed in the Prix de Diane to finish 3rd. Temptable was ridden patiently that day, which probably didn’t help against stronger staying types, but the drop back to a mile with a more aggressive approach seemed to pay dividends on Thursday evening. She is a daughter of Capla Temptress, who won the Natalma Stakes over a mile at Woodbine for Marco Botti and the return to a mile is looking likely to be the ideal trip for Temptable too. She controlled the pace under Clement Lecoeuvre before kicking for home with a 10.90s penultimate furlong. This race developed into a sprint and she was ideally placed, but having been joined in the home straight, she pulled out more win with something in hand. The hood that she wore at Longchamp in the Spring has now been dispensed with and she showed no ill-effects, if anything it probably helped her to get into a prominent position with her early speed having run the fastest opening furlong split in 15.39s. A finishing speed of 110% meant that this race setup for a front running ride like this, but she has held a pair of horses with solid form at a higher level and shouldn’t be underestimated. The quest for Black-Type should really control the remainder of her 2025 campaign, but this was a very deep Class 2 event and she showed more than enough in front to suggest that she will be capable of holding her own when she returns to pattern company.

Chaumiere de Pre finished 2nd and if we take his rating of 44-kilos literally, then it means we can significantly upgrade the performance of Temptable. He has won 3 times in handicap company, including a Quinte handicap on the PSF in March, but that run of form has left him with a slightly inflated rating and as this run proved, he isn’t the most straight forward horse in a finish. Having sat in the ideal position on the leaders quarters, he had every chance to go past, but he raised his head in the air and seemed reluctant to do so. This is further confirmed by the fact that he rallied to run 11.64s in the final furlong when he felt the 3rd and 4th coming alongside. He’s a nice horse and he’s been very successful, but his attitude might prevent him from making further progress. Square Carnot stayed on well from the rear to finish 3rd, as did the beaten favourite, La Brodeuse, who was given a lot to do by Cristian Demuro. She is the horse to set this form around. Having won on debut at Chantilly in May, she ran with great credit when 5th in the Listed Prix Melisande behind Safia, beaten less than 3-lengths. In a slowly run race, she was given too much to do, but she closed in 33.26s from the 600m pole, the fastest set of closing figures in the race and on another day she may well have won.

When making allowance for the way the race panned out and the form of the placed horses, it does take a slight shine off the result, but this was still a significant step in the right direction from Temptable and the attitude that she showed in the home straight was enough to convince me that there is more to come.