Category: Updates from the yard

Turfani won the second half of the Tierce handicap in Deauville yesterday, salvaging what had been a dismal week. She survived a half-hour stewards’ inquiry, during which I think I lost about three kilos sweating, but we kept the victory. She was clearly the best horse on the day, which is what saved us. Fabien Lefebvre, a jockey I was using for the first time, got a little overzealous in going for the hole in the home stretch, and he cut off another horse. The stewards decided the horse we cut in front of wouldn’t have finished in the money (thankfully), so we kept the win. Secondly, Christophe Soumillon, who was riding the horse that finished second, took exception to the way Lefebvre moved Turfani over just after the start, and he protested. Lefebvre came out of it with a six day suspension, which he took in pretty good spirits since he kept the win.

Turfani’s great race salvaged a week of disappointments. Brazil and George ran flat on Friday, and I thought both should have had a chance. Brazil was traveling well but didn’t finish. It was a quick race, and she has a speed build and pedigree, so we will probably try her over shorter next time out. That said, she finished her mile race in Dieppe well despite not liking the heavy going, so she’s a bit of a mystery for the moment. I think she has the quality, so it’s just a matter of getting her more experience and finding the ideal trip. She is still growing and learning how to carry around her bulky muscles and needs to run. George didn’t finish well either, and Soumillon said the horse was never traveling. It certainly didn’t look like that to me, and I disagreed with pretty much everything Soumillon said in assessing the horse – that he needed more distance and possibly blinkers. He is entered in a seven-furlong handicap on the turf at Clairefontaine next week, and if he runs it won’t be with blinkers but with a different pilot.

Next up for us is Rapsodie in Vichy on Friday.

Rose of Egypte ran a great little race down in Vichy today, finishing 4th of 14 runners. She was claimed by Kevin Borgel, a trainer in Marseilles, who got a good deal, I think. I am sorry to see her go, but the objective was to get her sold for Con Marnane of Bansha House Stables, because he needs to clear the books for new yearlings coming in. Mission accomplished; Rose earned just under 3,000 euros in prize money for her 4th place (1,700 plus the 75 percent premium for French two-year-olds) and was claimed for 10,000. Just to put a little perspective on how great French prize money is: another two-year-old Con sold to Godolphin won a good maiden race at Lingfield this week, and the prize money for the victory there was 1,700 pounds. Rose topped that with a 4th in a small claimer. She will go on to earn much more I’m sure, because she is a big beast and will make a strong three-year-old. Good luck, Rosy!

Just loaded Rose of Egypte for her trip into the great unknown that is Vichy. It seemed like a good entry when I picked it out, but now I’m not so sure. The race tomorrow comes at the end of a week-long meet, which means the track would have been pretty used up under the best of circumstances, but now is a complete mud field after several big thunderstorms there. This could be very bad or maybe very good – I have no idea what this horse can do on heavy going. Or on light going, for that matter, since this will only be her second race. She has the least experience of the 14-runner field, and will probably need more racing to come into form. But I’m hoping she can get up for a place and possibly get claimed, which is the goal of her owners, who are essentially pinhookers who need to clear the books for the next crop of yearlings. We all agree Rose will make a better three-year-old, but we’re doing our best to move her on now. She has a great paper and is a huge lovely filly, so maybe she’ll catch someone’s eye down there.

Who knew that Ireland was only two hours by car from Maisons-Laffitte? Or so it seemed today. When we loaded up Brazil to go to Dieppe, it was 25 degrees and sunny. When we got to the track, we descended into a rainy, misty, cold otherworld that could have been Galway in October. Or maybe July. In any case, the going that was listed as “bon souple,” or good to soft, at 10 a.m. had deteriorated into a sticky mud soup by 5 p.m., when the 7th race went off. Brazil is a heavy horse and still needs further fittening to be at her best, but she has been working very well at home. Nonetheless, you know what happens to fat girls in the mud? They sink. By 50 meters out of the gate, Brazil started to fall back, and she lobbed along in the back through the turn into the stretch. She did make a game effort to finish, though, and ended up 8th of the 15 runners, seven and a half lengths behind the winner but only a neck away from money. The fifth through eighth-placed horses finished practically on the same line. She came back hardly blowing, and the bright side is that she is now qualified for the handicaps and should have a nice low mark. We will probably run her back relatively quickly, in about two weeks on the fibersand at Deauville – which she should find a pleasant surprise after the mud in Dieppe. Tim got a couple of videos – one of us saddling Brazil, and the other of her being mounted in the parade ring.

Next up: Rose of Egypte goes on a road trip to Vichy, where she runs in the first on Saturday.

Timelord won today in Chantilly, finally putting us back in the winner’s circle after too long a drought. Christophe Soumillon was in the saddle for the first time in a long time for me, and he rode a great race. I thought he might have been beaten coming out of the turn, but Christophe said he knew he would win from well back. Timelord has now run three consistent races, finishing third, then second and now winning. It has been a lot of work to manage his box-walking and keep him happy, so it’s nice to see it paying off.

Now I just hope Brazil isn’t eliminated on Wednesday. She worked head-to-head with Timelord this week, and his strong performance gives me more hope for her. We’ll know more tomorrow.

The storms were circling Maisons-Laffitte just as I went over to feed breakfast; by the time we would normally take out first lot the lightening and thunder had moved in and rain hung over the yard. We waited, and in about 45 minutes the storm had moved through. It wasn’t enough. The air was still thick and heavy, but it would be further scrubbed by afternoon showers. This summer in France reminds me of those we used to have growing up in Wisconsin. Hot and heavy, punctuated by thunderstorms. Afternoons that seemed to last forever and yet speed by. The horses aren’t happy with it, but this summer has made me feel like I’m 16 again – OK, maybe not quite. I certainly don’t have the energy level – or the alcohol tolerance – of those days. But still. I could use at least another six months of this.

But the horses wouldn’t appreciate it. I am having to choose our entries wisely, because some horses are tolerating this better than others. Rapsodie is a little gray mare who is very light and has almost an Arabian head. Not surprisingly, she is standing up to the weather the best. The heavier horses are struggling. Big Brazil (now her formal name of Little Brazilien is quite comical) sweats like a fat girl, even though she really isn’t fat, just huge in every other way. Rose of Egypte would wilt if she lived in the country for which she was named. She’s a huge filly, and she is still too fat, although getting slimmer. Hard Way and Turfani are taking it stoically, and Timelord and George don’t seem too bothered, either. Skid hates it, and has been clearly much happier since we moved him to a cooler box about 10 days ago. Shuffles is too busy worrying about where his second testicle is to worry about the heat. I’m watching for it, too, because the minute it shows itself I’m going to have it removed, along with its partner. If there’s no sign by this winter I’m afraid we’ll have to go looking for it. Piccolo doesn’t care too much about the weather, either, because she’s still busy scoping out the place and deciding on a restaurant rating.

Despite the heat, the dogs still want their grand tour of the gallops every evening. Coco plays in the sprinklers and Prof knows the two strategically placed water holes that are just his size for wallowing. While Coco has youth on her side, Prof spends all day resting up for his big moment. The biggest decision of the day for him is whether to sleep on the couch or the bed. When I leave the fan on, the bed wins, especially since Coco is strangely afraid of the fan and refuses to go into the bedroom when it’s on. Instead, she goes outside and lays in what used to be the tomato bed before she dug it up. That way, she can bark at people, cars or horses passing in the street without having to actually get up. She will still make the effort to charge the fence at passing dogs, though. She is as afraid of other dogs as she is of the fan, but the fence gives her courage.

This lazy rhythm continues through Thursday; on Friday, Timelord goes to Chantilly. Next week, Turfani is entered in Chateaubriant on Monday, Hard Way in Vichy on Tuesday and Brazil in Dieppe on Wednesday. I’m not sure I’ll take Hard Way down to Vichy, because I think the trip may take too much out of him in the heat. But Brazil and Turfani are more likely to run. It all depends on the weather.

Rapsodie du Desert confirmed her good St. Cloud performance in Deauville yesterday, running third and getting beat just a half length in a handicap. She lost second by the smallest of nostrils, while the winner came too quick on the outside. She fought on well, and showed that St. Cloud wasn’t just a flash in the pan and that she can be useful in this category. Skid and George (Email Exit) also ran well but were in too tough company. Skid was in a lady jockey’s race and just didn’t have the kick to finish at 1,500 meters. The distance might have  been about 100 meters too long for him. He was strangely calm for all of the proceedings; he didn’t sweat up behind the gate, and even jumped out a bit slowly – which I prefer to the nervous bolting off he’s shown us up until now. All in all it was a good lesson for him and an easy race (lady jockey/caveliere races usually are). He will probably run one more for us before heading down south to join David Henderson’s yard, where he can be turned out to help his dust allergies. George, meanwhile, ran very well in much, much tougher company than he found in his claimer at Longchamp. I was hoping for a fourth, but we missed that by a length. He has grown out quite a bit physically since Longchamp, and Mathias Sautjeau, who rode him in both races, was very happy with him. He was well into his stride, relaxed in his breathing and tried hard to close in the stretch. He will now drop down in category to a small handicap or claimer and he should definitely make money there. All three came home well.

Meanwhile, we welcome the latest addition to the yard, Piccolo Blue, a three-year-old Piccolo filly I bought at the sales. She is the full sister to Pickett, a nice Group 3-placed sprinter who also won in Hong Kong, and to Armstrong, who has won in Greece. She has run three time in England, badly, but she is nicely built and I think I can do something with her here. In any case, she fits the pattern: She has a nice paper and is physically correct, and I only paid 1,200 guineas for her. I’m hoping she follows the path of Turfani and the others that have come through the Newmarket sale. Watch this space…

The three potential runners for Saturday will work tomorrow, along with Brazil, Rose and Hard Way, who have later entries. Rapsodie du Desert is entered in a handicap at Deauville, along with Skid Solo in the lady jockey’s race and Email Exit (George) in a maiden. George and Rapsodie are almost sure to run; still deciding on Skid.

After that, I’m off to Newmarket for the summer sale and racing. There are always bargains to be had, so if anyone out there is interested in a horse, now is the time. The two best deals out of the Newmarket sales are Turfani, bought for about 1,000 euros and has since won 19,300 euros, and Timelord, bought for about the same price and now up to 7,300. Those are exceptions, of course, but there’s always more where that came from…

One of the hardest parts of my job is to have to accept the fact that weeks or months of work can be ruined with one split-second bad judgment by a jockey. Turfani should have had a good chance at Longchamp today, but Mathias panicked and the poor horse got screwed. Turfani normally runs with the leaders, but today she was a bit late on the jump leaving the gate. Instead of letting her find her action and then see how the race unfolded, Mathias rode her forward to try to take back a place up front. Big mistake. The minute Turfani was asked, she took the bit and jumped into the lead next to another horse and pulled like a train. He decided to let her go, thinking she might relax in front. Second mistake. She didn’t, and every time he tried to slow the pace she swished her tale and went faster. Needless to say, she was overtaken in the stretch and finished nowhere. Bad lesson and wasted race. She is a lovely, generous horse, and shouldn’t have been ridden that way. The one good thing about it: To his credit, Mathias admitted he screwed up. That is very, very rare in a jockey, and I did appreciate that.

Versaki, on the other hand, just doesn’t want to put in the effort now. He needs a break, and he will get one.

Turfani and Versaki run at Longchamp tomorrow; Versaki in a 1,400-meter claimer and Turfani in the second half of the Tierce handicap. We’re not sure what to expect from Versaki any more, but he is dropping way down in class here and it is an easy lot. He certainly has the ability, but he’ll decide whether he wants to use it. We have Greg Benoist back up, which should be a plus – Greg has done the best job with him so far, and we haven’t been able to get him recently because of his other commitments. Turfani is in super form, and should run well. Mathias Sautjeau is back up after doing a good job with her at St. Cloud. But her race is quite tough and she’ll have to work hard. I had a back-up entry for her at Compiegne on Monday, which would have, in hindsight, been a much easier race for the same amount of money. But I have had much better luck at Longchamp than at Compiegne, so I didn’t pay much attention to that entry once I was sure we’d get in to Longchamp. That was a mistake, I’m afraid, because she would have had a good chance to win in Compiegne. I will study the entries better next time and hope she forgives me for having to run her heart out tomorrow.

After that, it’s off to the sales at Newmarket next week. This sale is one of two there every year I never miss, because there are bargains to be had. I don’t have anything particular to buy this time around, but I can’t stay away. If anybody wants to send me their list, I’ll be there.