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.
Bravo Turfani, Bravo Gina,
If Lefebvre had been on Turfani the time before, she would have won that one too.
In the category of return on investment for an equal bet on all a trainer’s horses, Gina Rarick has been at or near the top of the standings for a long time. That’s why I have no problem betting on the ones that lose because the ones that win more than make up for it. Much more. So I stood by Gallop France and played Turfani.
But don’t tell Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan.
mark
Congrats with Turfani, Gina. She’s turned out to be a real deal! So what happened with HardWay, TimeLord and Skid? After HardWay’s “episode”, did he race?
Huzzah for Turfani!!! its good to know that she pulled through in the unfortunate week you have been having^^ well lets hope Rapsodie will put in a good race^^
I agree with Mark.
On the subject of keeping horses in form, perhaps a liitle chat I had with one of Danny Nicholls staff on Sunday says it all.
He gets his horses fit to run their first race, then gives them a few days rest after each race; after a programme of gently cantering them over short distances, mixed with light light exercise.
This way keeping them fresh each time they run, without leaving their races on the gallops.
Congratulations! Let’s hope this starts a streak – for the stable AND Turfani! Nicely done.
Congratulations with Turfani!!! Hope Rapso runs well today too.