DerringBay will run in Deauville on Friday, a 1,900-meter claimer on the fibersand. Although it’s a cheap claimer (he’s in for 9,000 euros, the base price for claimers in races that support nationwide betting), there appear to be a few decent horses in the field. He would be much better placed in the handicap next week in Lyon, but I honestly cannot bring myself to truck down there again. So we’ll go to Deauville and try our luck. I’m hoping he will appreciate the shorter trip (in the truck, not on the track) and decide to participate this time, as opposed to grudgingly grinding it out, like he did in his last race. He seems fine and I couldn’t find anything wrong with him after his subpar run last time out, so we’ll see.
Turfani, meanwhile, will try her luck in the filly and mare handicap in Compiegne on Monday. It’s a bit close to her last race, but she seems to have come back well and it is a good entry for her. She will be back on the turf for the first time since last year, and I want to take advantage of the good ground. We haven’t had any of the predicted rain, but we are promised some this weekend which should make the going just about perfect for her. And once it starts raining in France in the spring time, it doesn’t stop, so I want to get out before the going gets heavy. Versaki might run on Monday in a condition race, but we’re still deciding on that. He’s had a slight setback in his training because of a rash on his back, so a final decision will be made tomorrow. He won’t have much chance in this race in any case, but he needs a third race in France to qualify for handicaps, so if he is fit to run he will go. The race he would have won was last week in Deauville, but he was eliminated in the drawing because of too many runners. We really need to get him qualified for the handicaps, because it’s been tough finding a race for him otherwise.