Prix Groupama - Al Uqda

I’m a great believer that you don’t know how good a horse is until it’s been beaten. So, the fact that Al Uqda has won all 3 of her starts for Henri-Alex Pantall makes her of obvious interest. She had shown battling qualities to win at Saint-Cloud and whilst the placed horses haven’t done too much for that form since, she was comfortably on top when it mattered. She holds an entry in the Prix de Diane. Whether this daughter of Ghaiyyath takes up that entry seems open to question, but this race looked to be a good piece of placement from her connections as she picked up €15,000 at Lion D’Angers on Thursday.

This was a professional performance and having started well, running the opening furlongs in 18.93 and 13.00s, she found herself in front as they headed into the bend. Making every yard, she was briefly shaken up by Tony Piccone, who seemed keen to educate her without the need to use the stick if he could. Driven out, she asserted in the closing stages without producing anything spectacular. The 2nd and 3rd are nice horses, but both have ratings in the high-30s and don’t seem likely to progress beyond that level, so there is a definite need for some context to be added to this form, but as you can see from the replay, this race revolved around 1 horse and that was Al Uqda.

Can she run in the Prix de Diane? Well she could, but that seems unlikely. There are plenty of 3-year-old Fillies in France with far stronger claims than she does and she certainly won’t get a soft lead around Chantilly. The fact that she returned from a 7-week break in a conditions race at Lion D’Angers rather than going for one of the trials in Paris would probably confirm that thought. However, there are plenty of other options for a filly like Al Uqda and she is surely capable of adding Black-Type to her CV on her next start. She is consistent, professional, front runs and has a long stride. Everything that’s needed to win pattern races in France.