Prix Roland de Chambure - Nighttime

This was a 2nd victory in 3 starts for Nighttime who landed the odds in relatively simple fashion for Christopher Head and the Wertheimer brothers. This was a 3-lengths success on his first try in pattern company and he took the success in his stride, though running around the bend clearly suited him better here. He showed bright early speed to track the leader and once shaken up, he quickly mastered Donnalucata who is beginning to struggle and may well be a horse for 2-year-old handicaps now. He responded when the pressure was applied by Maxime Guyon, but the only time in the race that he ran the fastest furlong was in the last and his pedigree would suggest that this is likely to be the last time that we see him running over this trip. A Wootton Bassett Colt, he is a grandson of the Prix Vermeille winner Midday (Sir Henry Cecil) and whilst he has shown himself to be relatively precocious, there is a sense that he is getting away with the sprint trips as a 2-year-old and if he continues to improve, he should be a possible contender for the better races over a mile and beyond in the autumn. It’s difficult to put a number on this performance given the fact that he has been chased home by a pair of British trained runners, but he has put 3-lengths between himself and the rest of the field and has perhaps run close to a mark of 43-kilos (95 UK) to win.

The pair to chase him home have both rewarded their connections for taking the trip to France, returning €10,980 and €8,235 respectively. Sirius A (2nd) was a winner at Leicester and took a step forward again. However, having tracked the winner, he looked likely to finish a lot closer at the 2-furlong pole but found very little when he was let down for his effort in the straight. His final furlong split of 11.91s was ranked 4th and I suspect that he may have preferred a slightly stiffer test, even if he may ultimately prove to be a class below the winner. Ellusive Butterfly (3rd) is a little more interesting. She finished 4th on her racecourse debut at Ripon, but she threw away her chances that day by veering to her right at the start and losing 6-lengths to the winner. That race was won by Front Line Fury who made a mockery of a mark of 82 on his handicap debut in a Nursery at Haydock and although this run might be seen as a way to earn some valuable Black type for her CV, Ellusive Butterfly has shown plenty here to suggest that she may be capable of winning at this level later in the season. Having been last turning in, she finished the race well and lost no further ground on the winner, producing the fastest time over the final 600m of the contest in 34.65s. Karl Burke and the Nick Bradley Racing Syndicate have the Black-type that they came for, but she showed enough to make me think that she might be a Listed winner in the near future, especially if racing in Fillies’ only company.