Prix Hocquart - Rafale Design

PRIX HOCQUART

3YO Group 3 - 2,200m - €40,000

2:22.74 - Finishing Speed 114.9%

A slow early pace. The German runner, Lifetimes, was pulled up quickly at the top of the hill, which appeared to slow the pace further.

Rafale Design has now won 3 of his 5 starts for Barberot and probably hasn’t earned the credit that he deserved coming into this race. A winner twice on the PSF in the autumn, he was 5th in the Prix Noailles last month, but was only beaten 4-lengths and may have needed the run after 4-months off. Improved here, even if he was helped by the race developing into a sprint, but he finished in 33.89s from the 600m pole (ranked 1st) including 10.89s for the 10th furlong, the only time that any of the runners dipped below 11s. A top speed of 66.3 km/h gave him an advantage, as did getting a clear run down the centre of the straight, but his earlier form with Nitoi is working out well and this was not a 12/1 fluke given that he sat towards the rear of the group coming down the hill.

Asmarani (2nd) was well backed for this race after a maiden win at Saint-Cloud, in part because connections won the Prix Hocquart with Calandagan 12-months ago. Hard to find any real excuse, he simply doesn’t have the tactical speed of the winner in a slowly run race, with a top speed of 64.9 km/h. Stayed on well and ran the fastest final furlong in the field. Even by French standards, this was falsely run and he should stay 12-furlongs or more in time, so he certainly isn’t a horse to give up on.

Zarakchic (3rd) only has a Salon de Provence maiden win on his CV, but took a big step forward from his earlier form in the South to finish 3rd here with a tongue-tie added for the first time. Led the field down the hill and as a result, was very well placed, but kept on nicely to hold Maupassant, who tracked him throughout. Zekret (5th) sat on the leaders quarters coming down the hill, but was outpaced when the sprint began. All 3 should be capable of running well in Listed company, but that is probably the limit of their ability.

Avide (6th) had chased home Midak last time and on just his 3rd start, has run a much better race than his finishing position might suggest. Sat last, he had little chance given the way the race developed and the slack early pace. Kept on and worth noting that only the winner was faster than him over the finals 600m (34.16s). Holds entries in the Prix du Lys and the Grand Prix de Paris. At this stage, that is probably a stretch but he needs to be forgiven this run.