3 minute read

Nancy – 8th April 2022.

Joker D'Occagnes continued to show his promise when getting off the mark in style at the third career attempt on a wet track at Nancy last Friday, accelerating away in an eye-catching manner.

Considering the inexperienced field and wet conditions a strong pace was set by Je Suis Heuvelland. The eventual winner was a good eight lengths behind racing in fifth position throughout the first circuit. Winning driver, Matthieu Verva made a move on the three-year-old to take a share of fourth as they negotiated the right-handed turn into the home straight for the first time, passing their starting point.

Halfway and the Gilles Curens trained colt continued to make headway on the outside sharing the lead as they went on their final lap where the tempo remained strong. It looked a five-horse race at this point, with many struggling to keep stride on the wet track. Both Joker d'Occagnes and Jazz du Goutier were head-to-head, leading down the fair side of the course and it looked to be a good duel about to unfold.

Joker d'Occagnes was two wide rounding the final turn and had to show a further level of speed to pass Jazz du Goutier who was hugging the inside pegs; however, the former caught the eye, travelling better and with ease went to the front entering the home straight. Quickly, Matthieu Verva found himself two lengths clear in the final 300m. Jazz du Goutier had no response and the advantage of Joker d'Occagnes continued to grow by a comfortable eight lengths crossing the winning line.

This son of Titan d'Occagnes has been showing plenty of promise delivering three career starts with a good debut fourth at Reims in February, where the form worked out well (behind two subsquent winners) preceding a third at the same track a month later before shedding the maiden tag last week at the third attempt. The three-year-old colt is still open to further progress and looks a name to keep in mind.