Alex Hammond Racing Blog: Look ahead to resumption of racing in France at ParisLongchamp

Well, a little bit of normality resumes in the racing world on Monday with the news in the past week that France are to be the second European country to dip their toe back into the sporting arena, following Germany who resumed racing on Thursday.

Obviously, the news will generate mixed emotions amongst the wider public given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but for many in the industry it is a relief. That has been borne out by the huge take-up for the planned three fixtures, with over 1000 horses entered.

It’s been a worrying and frustrating time for everyone, including people who earn their living from the horse racing industry, but hopefully given the strict measures in place it can all pass without incident. This is not so much a dipping of the toe, however, more like a giant splash, with some star names set to grace the track at ParisLongchamp.

The Prix Du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner Sottsass ended his season with a highly respectable third behind Waldgeist and Enable in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and he returns to the city track for his first start as a four-year-old with that autumn showpiece a likely target once again.

Sky Bet currently have him at 16/1 co-second favourite of three for the race with Enable clear 6/1 favourite, so he could be a bit of each-way value before his reappearance. He heads the entries for the Group 2 Prix D’Harcourt and will be a short price to get his season off to a flyer. That’s the feature race on a 10-race bonanza at ParisLongchamp, which kicks off early at 9.55am.

Also on the card you will hopefully see last year’s leading French juvenile, Victor Ludorum, in the Prix de Fontainbleau at 11.55am. Andre Fabre’s son of the late Shamardal won all three of his starts at two, culminating in a Group 1 victory in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, which resulted in him going into winter quarters as the ante-post favourite for the French Guineas.

He is very smart this boy and has been compared favourably to the great Mill Reef by his master trainer. This should be a stepping stone to the first colt’s Classic in France.

Sky Sports Racing’s French expert, Laurent Barbarin, is really keen on Khayzaraan this season. The Freddy Head-trained filly is very much in the same mould as mighty mare Goldikova and in fact her trainer has taken a similar route with this lady as he did with her.

She is entered in the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte (12.25pm) and might be the value bet on the card owing to the presence of Andre Fabre’s Tropbeau, who was last seen finishing third in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in September. So a little bit of stardust is sprinkled over the return of French racing and you will be able to watch all the action live with me on Sky Sports Racing from 9.45 on Monday morning.

I’ve been incredibly grateful to our long list of guests that have given their time to speak to us on Sky Sports Racing during the lockdown.

We’ve learned plenty thanks to their generosity of spirit and this week has been no exception. It was a pleasure to speak to Richard Hughes, Dan Skelton and Jim Crowley on The Racing Show on Monday evening with nuggets of information from all three.

Jim Crowley has some incredible horses to look forward to for his boss Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum this season including the likes of phenomenal sprinter Battaash, who won’t have Blue Point to beat in the King’s Stand if Royal Ascot goes ahead.

Other horses to get a positive mention were Mohaather, who won the Greenham and wasn’t disgraced in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day.

Crowley positively lit-up when speaking about Elarqam. His defeat of Addeybb in the Sky Bet York Stakes isn’t looking bad form now!

Enbihaar is a filly I really liked when I saw her win the Park Stakes at Doncaster and her rider thinks she’s well capable of winning a Group 1 this season.

It’s also great to hear about the horses stepping up to ‘big school’ after their juvenile campaigns and he named a quartet of three-year-olds who should fly that blue and white flag this season. Namely, Molatham who looks exciting for trainer Roger Varian; Al Madhar who won his only start last season for Richard Hannon; Hukum, a son of Sea The Stars who is trained by Owen Burrows and holds a Derby entry. Finally, another son of Sea The Stars, Al Aasy, who is with William Haggas and also holds a Derby entry.

It was great to hear from National Hunt trainer Dan Skelton, who is not able to hit the ground running as he usually would at this time of year. However, there will be exciting times to come for him with his yard full of top horses, one of whom Allmankind, is exciting for next season with another summer under his belt.

Richard Hughes was a Classic-winning jockey and he has an exciting horse in his yard with possible Classic aspirations in the shape of Brentford Hope.

I asked Hughsie if he had sat on the horse at home. His reply of “oh yes” spoke volumes and you get the impression he thinks this lad is special. He said when he first sat on this son of Camelot he thought he was slow (or words to that effect – the phone line was bad), but he improved immeasurably and you feel that a crack at a Classic wouldn’t be a completely wasted effort.

Did you see his win under Jamie Spencer on debut at Newmarket? It was breathtaking. There’s a reasonable amount of stamina in his pedigree, so I wonder if he could be one for the St Leger in September. There will be plenty of decent races to be won with him that’s for sure.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend, stay safe and hopefully I’ll see you all on Monday morning.

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