A decent card at Deauville today in France. Ocean Atlantique 2.50 was a really good second on his comeback run recently. He should be too good for his rivals in this Listed event. Earlier in the card Farout 2.15 runs in a really hotly contested handicap, he has top weight, but he has solid each way claims at around 6/1, he powered clear near the line last time when he won, off a really slow pace. This is a stronger race, with Youmdor as the likely main rival.

Good news to hear that racing returns tomorrow at Newcastle. 9 races to go at, with only a maximum of 12 in each race, due to the current health issues. I would think a large number of yards will be itching to get back among the winners, betting with a bit of caution is always best during the first week or so, as then you can access which yards have their team of horses fit and ready to perform well.

More tomorrow.

Still a fair amount of racing left in France. At 4.35 Bordeaux Le Bouscat – Lauernen looks to have a solid chance, he can be a tad keen in his races, so I will probably have a bet on the exchanges in play. As a few might take him on in the early stages, Spirit Intime is always ridden with enthusiasm and if these two take each other on, it may set the race up for a horse ridden with a bit of patience. Later in the card at 6.15- Saint Mano would be my idea of the one to beat, he may have his stable mate El Chiquito as his main threat, the former jumped well when second on debut over obstacles. He did finish his race on possibly slower poached ground that day, so it was a really nice effort. El Chiquito fell on his debut, so if none the worse, he looks a nice big type, and was well fancied that day, hopefully he can jump found safely.

More tomorrow.

Racing in France today has 4 meetings. At Dieppe, where the ground is described as good to soft. One horse I like is Kourkan 1.25. A drop in grade for this horse, and a capable claiming rider on top, this horse should have enough to take this event. Trading around 6/4 generally. Another horse I like, despite his age is running in the 12.10 race over 12 furlongs. Golden Wood is now 10, but he missed a couple of seasons with injury, and was a game winner last time, at 4/1 he is value, even each way with 8 runners is a good bet. Christophe Soumillon rides, it’s interesting to note that he won on Valeya last time, and has opted to ride Golden Wood.

More later.

Racing at Lyon in France today looks tricky in finding a winner. I did take my friend Laurent Barbarin’s advise this morning- I fancied Cleonte in the 10.25 Chateaubriant, who was around 7/4 at the time. He confirmed that it was his preference as well, I didn’t know much about the young apprentice riding, but Laurent assured me that he was a very good rider, and he will not be claiming 6lb for long. So a good winner- and delighted to get value – as the Andre Fabre trained filly was well backed into 5/6 , before romping up. Ulan 3.35 Lyon has a good chance of winning again, he has gone up 6lb in the handicap, but won with a good deal in hand last time, and should take all the beating.

More tomorrow.

Having watched racing in France a lot since the resumption of the French racing, one thing that I see very often is a lot of the jockeys seem a bit one dimensional !

It is clear that Andre Fabre likes his horses to come from off the pace, it is very rare that they make the running.  His main two jockeys are P Boudot and M Barzalona- and both have plenty of experience of riding in France.  Barzalona is still retained by Godolphin, so he rides the horses he is retained for, and Fabre has a lot for Godolphin.  Boudot rides for numerous owners, and for me is riding with great confidence, he seems to be winning on a lot of horses that he shouldn’t , of late.  I think he could well win the 4.00 At Deauville, on Bring On The Night for Fabre, he is very short odds, and L’aigle looks his main rival, in the 12f event.  Both horses are possible improvers.

It looks like racing in the UK will get the green light to start on the 1st of June.  Let’s hope that no complications are likely over the next few days.  I am sure every precaution is being looked at.

More later.

The meeting today at Vichy in France has some nice horses running.  At 1.58 Soft Light looks like he is the real class act of the field.  Obviously it is his first run of the year, so he will improve.  However he showed much more than his rivals last year, and I would be disappointed if he was to get beat.  He is around 10/11- which is short for his first run of the year, but the stable runners are going well enough, so he should be more than good enough, it is a major drop in class from a last run in a Group 1.

More later.

Quite a good stayers Listed race today in France.  The 10.40 at Deauville, is over almost 1 mile and 6 furlongs for fillies and mares.  Edisa has not tried this trip before, but everything about her suggests she will stay.  She usually relaxes in her races, which always gives an option for connections to try and go further, even though she has good winning form over a shorter trip.  She needed her run when finishing fourth,  back in March, and last season improved a lot for her seasonal debut.  I think she has solid claims to win here.  Her main rival is Muette, who has proven stamina, she won first time out last season, and looks very honest.  If the ground keeps drying out, She should be ok, as will the favorite Edisa.  Another to consider is Think Of Me, who won well last time, the ground was heavy that day, and she galloped on strongly in the testing conditions.  Currently the drying ground, slightly goes against her chance of winning, as she would like the heavens to open !

It should be a good race, I’m hoping the weather stays dry and Edisa can have her usual strong finishing effort to get the job done.

More tomorrow.

With the main card just finished at Chantilly today.  One thing I noticed was a lot of the horses that either won or finished in the first three, raced vey prominently.  The last winner Alpine Star made all the running in the 3.02.  She set the fractions, and never looked like getting beat.  I have noticed since the return of the racing from France, that Pierre Charles Boudot is riding with great confidence, and he seems to be the go to man for Andre Fabre.  He still uses Mickael Barzalona a lot on the Godolphin horses, I believe Barzalona is still retained by my old firm.

I put a few in the tracker today, who were given far too much to do, Galawi, who started second favorite for the 12.07- a 10f maiden, was one horse that in my opinion, should of won.  He was sat too far back, and it was a poorly judged ride by Maxime Guyon. The winner Bois D’argent was heavily backed into favoritism, and well ridden by Boudot, he got his mount up right near the line to win by a neck.

Not far off the first race at Marseille-Borelly, I did think the opening race would go the way of Moonlightpainter, who at around 3/1, is one I am going to back.

More tomorrow.

 

A decent card at Auteuil today in France.  Nimes 1.05 will try to follow up from a recent win at Compiegne in March.  He is trading around evens with most firms, and should follow up, stable mate Yes Indeed is his likely main threat.  Probably the best race is at 12.05.  Gooaaal carries top weight in this 2m 6f event over fences.  He is around 10/1, and would be my pick each way.  Nanosecond won well recently, but does lack experience over the larger obstacles, she jumped well on her only try over fences when winning. Trading around 2/1 she is the one to beat, despite her inexperience.

It looks very likely that racing in the UK will resume in June. How soon crowd’s may be allowed to watch remains to be seen.  The 6th of June is when the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket is hoped to be ran. It looks likely that the majority of runners will not of had a prep run, which will be unusual for this race.  I mentioned Arizona as my each way bet a while ago, he is still around 10/1, with my other choice for the race, french trained Earthlight, who is not yet a certain runner, as it will very likely depend on if the current short priced favourite – Pinatubo runs, although I believe Andre Fabre, who trains Earthlight, would like to run his horse at Newmarket, rather than go to France for their 2,000 guineas the weekend before.

More later.

Today’s main meeting in France is from Chantilly.  Already a few races gone, with a decent performance by Simeem in the 10.30 race.  She looks a useful filly, as she came from a long way back, and is value for a bit more than her winning distance.  Wooded is interesting at 1.12.  He drops back in trip today, which should not be a major issue.  The group 3 event should be ran at a decent pace, with the ground at Chantilly riding good to soft, Wooded should be doing his best work at the finish.  Acosia at 11/2 could be his biggest threat.  A few others I like at Chantilly, I hope I may be able to find a winner, on a fairly decent card.  It is just good to see some racing, on grass !

Having been watching the racing in USA of late, i find it is very inconsistent, I think a large number of the jockeys, make numerous errors, punters know their fate before halfway normally ! It is really hard for horses to come from a fair way back, as the bends are normally tight, and the length of the home straight is normally much shorter than in Europe, which makes it very difficult.

More tomorrow.