Pixie turned in a dismal performance in Pau; I predicted she would either wire it or finish dead last, and unfortunately I was right – dead last. She broke well but then didn’t handle the track at all, and they went a breakneck pace. The fibersand in Pau looks a little deeper than Deauville on a good day, and there is a lot of kickback. That said, she may have just been surprised by it first time out (let’s try to find the bright side) and might do better next time. In any case, she will stay in the neighborhood, moving to David Henderson’s yard. He’s located in Mont de Marsan and there will be better chances for her to run down there. There is nothing left for her to try up here, since she will always be eliminated in Deauville, which wraps up on Jan. 9 in any case. There are a few more races for her in Pau, and after that she can try the turf at Cagnes sur Mer. I’m still convinced she can do something, and I’m hoping for a decent performance before she goes to the sales for potential brood mares in February. She has a fantastic paper for breeding, and she has won a race, so that’s where he future lies, I think.
Meanwhile, we’ll look ahead to Wednesday, when Blessing Belle finally gets to start in Deauville, and DerringBay will get another shot at that track.
“Pixie” needs to run on a left hand track; not too soft, so that rules out Pau.
Cagnes Sur Mer is her best bet.
For those of you who can’t get enough of Gina Rarick; there is a very nice feature article on her in the “living” section of January’s “The French Paper”; an English Language monthly published in France.
The paper is available throughout English populated areas of France; in all major press outlets, including obviously Paris and Maisons Laffitte.