Vichy Selections 18th July

A disappointing days punting at Vichy on Thursday is the best way to describe it. Having taken on both Al Uqda and Dropshot despite highlighting the fact that there was a chance that both of them could prove to be a class above their rivals, it seemed like a missed opportunity. Alas, it least it proves that the analysis was on the right lines, even if the selections were not. Friday is another day and as the 6 day Vichy Summer festival begins to draw to a close, there are a couple of open races on Fridays card where the morning prices make some appeal. Here are my notes on a couple of selections on todays card, which gets underway at 1:01 UK time.

1:01 - PRIX DE BOURGFONTAINE

Difficult start to the Vichy card with a 2-year-old sprint over the 1,000m straight course. Astrea broke a run of 2nd placed finishes by winning over 1,200m at Marseille Borely last time. That was close to a career best where she made every yard and even if we allow for the fact that the bare form is nothing outstanding, she did win by 5-lengths. It seems fairly safe to assume that they will adopt similar tactics here given that she is dropping down to the minimum trip, but this will be the first time that she hasn’t run round a bend and the wide expanse of the Vichy straight is a very different course to Tarbes and Marseille. At the time of writing, she is a 3/1 favourite and I can see why, but she looks likely to be the pace angle here and she was beaten by Oshia in one of her earlier races, so there’s a definite risk that she is going to set the race up for those in behind.

Go Ken Go has the highest rating in the field at 40-kilos. This is definitely easier than the Listed Prix Yawcolef that he ran in at Deauville, but he was last all the way and did little more than keep on at the one pace. He is yet to win a race, which gives him a slight weight advantage here, but the issue is that he has an inflated rating from his earlier form in the North and the drop back to 5-furlongs is anyone’s guess at this point. I could apply very similar comments to Cath Hoche and Wana Chope and the suspicion is that they will struggle to get on terms with Astrea if she leads.

The unknown quantity in this field has to be Pen and Sword. He made his debut behind Afjan and Vardif at Chantilly at the start of June and although he finished 4th, the way he made progress between runners and kept on to finish 4th would offer some hope that there is a lot more to come with the benefit of that experience. Mid-race furlongs of 11.11, 11.33 and 11.43s confirmed the feeling that he has the speed for this trip. His Dam was a half-sister to several sprint winners and his Grand-Dam won over 5-furlongs as a 2-year-old. That family form, combined with the speed from Havana Grey, would offer plenty of hope and having cost €105,000 as a yearling at Arqana in 2023, his connections clearly thought so too. Even though we are in July, this race is already full of 2-year-olds who can be considered to be relatively exposed and so I would rather take the current 9/2 price about Pen and Sword given that he has the potential to find more improvement than most in this field.

2:05 - PRIX JACQUES DE BREMOND

Bullace won a Quinte handicap at Chantilly on Prix de Diane day and the runner-up duly obliged at Paris Longchamp last week to boost the strength of that form. That win came over 9-furlongs and this is a definite step up in class, but I can at least see the case for having a go at this level again. However, all of his best form has come in Handicaps and he was only 3rd in this race 12-months ago in what looked to be a weaker renewal. The trip is a concern for the likes of Ten Horns and Tomakay who both have better form at shorter trips and despite having 7 wins from 12 starts, the latter has yet to make his mark at this level despite the promise that he has shown.

There are a couple of horses in this field that I felt were “lined up” for this race. The first is Babakool. He was a winner of the Listed Prix Millkom at La Teste last August and he was certainly given a very sympathetic ride by Maxime Guyon when he finished 6th at Paris Longchamp in a Class 1 event 2-weeks ago. Settled towards rear, he was brought wide to challenge, but was given just 1 reminder and nudged out in a manner that suggested he was being readied for a bigger target after a break of over 6-months. I expect him to be ridden more aggressively and he has proven himself to be capable at this level. He’s around 13/2 at the time of writing, which is probably a point or 2 too big, but he holds no secrets at this stage and I suspect that he may find my selection, Dark Trooper, a difficult horse to beat in the finish.

He may not be one of the leading lights on Wathnan Racing’s roster, but he has finished 2nd in a Wokingham at Royal Ascot and has shown plenty of solid form in Qatar over the winter. Dark Trooper already has 10 wins on his CV and although the majority of that form has come over further, he looks like a horse who may improve for the step up to a mile as a 5-year-old. He made his return to French racing in the G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot at Paris Longchamp in June. Settled in rear under JB Eyquem, he was ridden with another day in mind, but he finished very strongly, closing with furlongs of 10.53 and 10.85s. This distance is an unknown, but with the possible exception of Tomakay, there didn’t look to be an obvious pace angle in this contest and if it develops into a sprint, that turn-of-foot, coupled with his record on summer ground, would offer a lot of hope. 11/4 seemed very fair with Alexis Pouchin booked.