Prix du President Baboin - Akido

Lyon Parilly - 8/5/2025

3YO Class 2 over 2,400m - €11,000

Akido had won on debut at Strasbourg last month, by 8-lengths. He had been keen, finished his race with a very high head carriage, but asserted in the final furlong. That form actually took an obvious boost later on this card when the 3rd placed Sedano won the maiden over course and distance by 4-lengths, but we weren’t to know that at the time. Unlike his Strasbourg debut, Akido settled beautifully here, 3-lengths behind the lead and travelling strongly around the bend. However, at this point the early leaders in front of him began to fade and he found himself wedged into a pocket as the eventual runner-up got the first run into the closing stages. Once he had forced his way into the clear, Akido picked up readily with closing furlongs of 11.60 and 12.03s to win as he liked. He looked far more streetwise than he did in the closing stages of his debut and a winning time of 2:41.23 was 3.73s faster than the maiden later on the card. Henk Grewe did have him entered in the Prix de Croissy at Paris Longchamp yesterday, but he looks to have made the right decision to come here and must surely be looking at pattern races after this success.

Klycot (2nd) won a Cagnes-Sur-Mer maiden in January and although he was last of 7 at Salon-de-Provence last time, he was beaten 6-lengths overall and the winner (Dioptase) runs in the Group 3 at Saint-Cloud on Friday. He had every chance here, but simply couldn’t match the speed shown by Akido in the closing stages.

Nubuck (3rd) won an Argentan maiden over 2,500m but he does shape like a typical son of Camelot. Outpaced and ridden around the turn, he has kept on well to be fair to him, but a top speed of 60.3 km/h leaves him vulnerable, especially in smaller fields and he looks destined for 2-miles at the end of the season.

Ephesus (4th) is the other horse to take from this. The form of his Saint-Cloud debut has worked out nicely and although he is unlikely to have won, he would almost certainly have finished 2nd if getting a clear run here. Demuro made a brave decision to try and squeeze through a gap on the inside rail that wasn’t really there. It closed and he was forced to snatch up his mount which ended any chance. However, he looked likely to play a hand in the finish and should at least win a Class 2 next time with a clear run.