Sunday Longchamp and Naas Preview and Tips – DS
Sunday Longchamp and Naas Tips
We landed a couple of places on Saturday but we should have had a winner. The ground went too quick for Mohi, unfortunately. What Rab Havlin was doing on Savvy Victory I don’t know. If he switched him wide earlier, he wins. Romantic Time ran a cracker, landing place money in 4th at 33s. La Pulga ran an absolute stinker, I have no explanation for that one. Natural Path grabbed a place for us at 16s, and so did Chindit at 25s. Hopefully tomorrow’s selections run as well and we get more of a reward. Sunday Longchamp and Naas preview and tips are below.
2.15 Longchamp – Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Group 1)
It is Guineas Day in France and first up at Longchamp are the ladies. Fifteen 3yo fillies will go for G1 glory and unusually for Longchamp, the ground is going to be closer to good than soft. Cachet, the winner of the Newmarket version, is 5/2 to repeat the dose here. She was a deserving winner but she was crying out for the line and she had a hard race. At odds of 5/2, I couldn’t be backing her.
Rosacea heads the home challenge for Bachelot and Wattel. By Soldier Hollow, this filly has won her last four. She signed off her 2yo campaign with a G3 win and then she landed a C&D G3 last month. It is hard to weigh her form up against the UK and Irish raiders but the bookies obviously rate her chances given that she is only 7/2.
Ground Concerns
Given Toy’s form, you’d imagine that connections targeted this race in the hope of getting soft ground. Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Galileo was placed on her first two starts, on soft and then yielding ground. She got off the mark at Cork last month (7f yld/sft), hacking up by 5L in a maiden. She is regally bred and while her full brother Gleneagles handled fast ground, a few of her sisters were best on soft. Good to soft shouldn’t really pose any problems and if she is as talented as some of her siblings, she could easily ‘toy’ with her rivals (sorry!).
Speaking of Gleneagles, the Charltons run one of his sons and Hollie Doyle rides. This filly hacked up in a Listed heat at Newbury in October (7f sft). Her reappearance run behind Wild Beauty at the same track (7f gd) was perfectly satisfactory, though the winner of that was well beaten in the 1000 Guineas. Soft ground could be the key to this filly and unfortunately, she won’t get it.
Belgian Ace Overpriced
Acer Alley finished 4th, 3L behind Rosacea in that C&D G3 she won last month. Belgian superstar Christophe Soumillon was on board that day and he keeps the faith. This filly is by Siyouni and she sprung a big surprise in a 7F G3 on nice ground here back in September. The horse she beat into 2nd runs in the boy’s race and she had El Bodegan, a subsequent G1 winner, 0.75L back in 3rd. In 4th was New Science, the Free Handicap winner (off 108).
In that race Acer Alley was delivered wide and late and just got up. On her return Soumillon employed the same tactics but she maybe just was in need of the run. It could be argued that she simply didn’t stay but I’m not so sure. Her half brother was a G1 winner over 9f and Siyouni has already sired a French Guineas winner (St Mark’s Basilica). She won’t lack for assistance from the saddle and she is worth chancing e/w at 33/1.
Sunday Longchamp and Naas Tips: Acer Alley e/w @ 33/1 (4 places)
2.45 Naas – Irish EBF Fillies’ Sprint Stakes (Group 3)
It is Ascot Trials Day at Naas and the most intriguing race by a mile is this 6f Fillies’ Sprint. The favourite is Meditate, a daughter of No Nay Never. She knew her job first time up and she won handily on her Curragh debut (5f yld). She didn’t travel that well and she took a while to hit top gear but when she did, she put the race to bed and won by 3+ lengths. However, so far, that form has not worked out.
Meditate’s main market rival is Matilda Picotte and the form of her Curragh win (6f yld) has worked out. Kieran Cotter’s speedy daughter of Sioux Nation bounced out and went to the front. She was like a coiled spring under McDonagh and she had them all in trouble 2.5f out. She won by 2L from Comhra in the end, eased down. The Bolger horse scored by 6L in a 7f Roscommon maiden on Monday and she re-opposes here. Over this trip, Matilda Picotte should uphold the form.
Treasure The Value
He was a bigger price on Friday but even at 15/2, Treasure Trove is the one that might represent a bit of value against the top two. We backed this filly last time (Curragh, 5f yld) and she just missed out on place money in 3rd. She was a bit slowly away and Billy Lee wasn’t hard on her yet she was only beat 1.75L for the win.
Stepping up to 6f will really suit this filly and given her pedigree, so will this quicker ground. Matilda Picotte and Meditate will likely go off at a pretty fast pace and it is a stiff finish at Naas. If they go too hard, Treasure Trove could well be the one to pick up the pieces. On what I have seen so far, Matilda Picotte was the most impressive but at 15/2, Treasure Trove is the each way selection. It might pay to chance a small reverse forecast on Matilda and Treasure Trove too.
Sunday Longchamp and Naas Tips: Treasure Trove e/w @ 15/2; Treasure Trove/Matilda Picotte rev/fcast
2.55 Longchamp – Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Group 1)
Will Charlie Appleby’s red hot run in stakes races continue? Modern Games represents him here and he is 85/40 to deliver the goods. The ground has come right for him and his lack of a recent run is not a worry given who trains him. If the son of Dubawi can repeat the level of form he showed when winning at the Breeders’ Cup, he could be tough to beat.
At the odds, I am going to take a chance on Making Moovies. This fella is a half-brother to the pretty useful Epic Hero. By Dabirism, his 2yo form is solid. He ran four times, winning twice and then chasing home Acer Alley and Dreamflight in a pair of Group 3s. On his return to action he landed a minor event at Toulouse before turning up at this track in the Prix De Fontainebleau (8f gd).
In that race he finished very strongly for 3rd, finishing just over 1L behind Welwal (11/1 today). The winner had a great position whereas Making Moovies had to come wide to make his challenge and on another day, he would have got a lot closer to (or maybe even beaten) the Rouget horse. To be honest, I don’t know a huge amount about the trainer or jockey but if he gets a nice pace to aim at, Making Moovies could stay on late for place money at odds of 22/1.
