3 minute read
News In Brief of French Racing and Trotting - 12th May 2021.
This week's News In Brief includes potential targets for some promising thoroughbreds, International achievement in Sweden, UK classic winner Poetic Flare, David Cottin at Longchamp plus much more…
Sibila Spain
The three-year-old daughter of Frankel may have the G1 Prix Saint-Alary (2000m) at Longchamp as her next target after showing significant promise following two undefeated performances to date at Saint Cloud (noted in our Run Of The Week) on debut before adding a second career win at Lyon-Parilly among Class One company three weeks ago. The G1 Prix Saint-Alary (2000m) is at the end of the month.
Poetic Flare
Poetic Flare, winner of the G1 2,000 Guineas (1600m) at Newmarket (UK) at the start of the month may make another International journey but this time to France and attempt a second classic by contesting the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (1600m) at Longchamp. The last time this was achieved was in 2010 when Special Duty was able to complete the fillies equivalent. The two week gap between the races this year has made the opportunity more realistic to achieve the double.
David Cottin at Longchamp
With only his second runner on the banks of the Seine, the jumping trainer found success with Homo Deus last Thursday in the Prix du Bois de Vincennes handicap (2000m) where the three-year-old son of Intello justified favouritism. This was the first thoroughbred attempt on the flat for the top jump trainer at Longchamp who is often seen just a few hundred metres away at Auteuil. David Cottin had an AQPS runner in 2019 attempting the AQPS G1 Prix de Craon (2400m).
Pascal Guilbert
Last Wednesday morning there was sad news that commentator, Pascal Guilbert had passed away, aged 64, just a few days short of his 65th birthday. He was the voice of multiple racecourses in the Lower Normandy area where he began calling in the early 1990s as commentator and host. Pascal Guilbert's voice was widely appreciated, distinctive and many enjoyed at the region's racetracks including, Argentan and Cabourg where he was a key part of the summer meetings. Pascal Guilbert had commented on more than 30,000 races.
Deep Bond
Koji Maeda, one of the leading owners in Japan has indicated that Deep Bond (Kizuna) could be aimed for a European campaign with a possible ultimate target being the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) after the G2 Prix Foy (2400m) both at Longchamp. He is a dual G2 winner and a son of Kizuna, who finished fourth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) in 2013.
Délia du Pommereux and Eric Raffin
There was a great finish and exceptional effort from Délia du Pommereux to overtake Aetos Kronos in the final strides of the G1 Paralympiatravet Final (2140m) at Aby (Sweden) on the weekend which produced multiple significant stories in the world of trotting.
One such story was after Délia du Pommereux and Eric Raffin's win in the G1 Paralympiatravet Final (2140m) on Saturday when the driver celebrated the success, and in so doing broke the rule of having a "hand higher for a while than the shoulder". The driver was fined approximately € 1,500 and banned for three days. Eric Raffin has appealed and on Monday the commissionaires will re-consider this week.
Whatever the outcome, the eight-year-old mare has proven once again her top-class ability. Another trip abroad however looks in doubt.
Keven Borgel
French southern based thoroughbred trainer, Keven Borgel announced last Thursday he has ended his training career after more than twenty years in the business.
Stéphane Pasquier
Jockey, Stéphane Pasquier recorded his 200th career Quinté+ triumph last Saturday at Lyon-Parilly with Caliste finding the winners enclosure in the Class Two Grand Prix de Parilly handicap (1350m). This was twenty years after his first Quinté + victory back in January 2001 at Cagnes-sur-Mer's Winter Meeting. This was a welcome winner after testing positive for COVID-19 on April 20.
Harvester
Driver and trainer, Alexis Guarandea steered Harvester to success in the opening event at La Capelle last Saturday. This was a first triumph for Perrine Douille as an owner. Perrine Douillet bought Harvester for only € 3,500 from the Caen yearling sales.
Jean-Michel Bazire and Franck Nivard
The relationship between Jean-Michel Bazire and Franck Nivard is one to note as in the past eleven years, Jean-Michel Bazire has used Franck Nivard only thirteen times to drive his runners on nine different horses. The results have been successful with three wins (Gently de Muze, Hooker Berry and Tjacko Zaz) and a further five occasions in the placings – producing a 62% strike rate of making the top three.
Stéphane Meunier
Stéphane Meunier trained his 600th career winner with Get Lovely Délo last Friday at Vincennes in the Class D Prix Fabricius (2700m). The five-year-old mare also produced an excellent time to boost the achievement running a kilometre rating of 1'13''3.
The Revenant
The Revenant may have only finished fourth at Saint Cloud in the G2 Prix du Muguet (1600m) on 1 May but may have the G1 Prix d'Ispahan (1850m) later this month as his next target, depending on the ground. Two-year-old Faro de San Juan (Almanzor) from the same stable (Francis-Henri Graffard), won well on April 26 at Chantilly and could run the Listed Prix La Flèche.
