PLENTY POCKET PLENTY FAST

Don't let anyone tell you that all French races are slow run affairs. The eleven furlong debutante's race at Longchamp last Sunday featured a tremendous early gallop thanks to third placed L'AMI GABY (37).

L'Ami Gabi fought his jockey in the first furlong who then allowed him to surge to the front to set what the other riders clearly thought was an unsustainable pace as they allowed him to go further and further ahead. At one point he must have been ten lengths clear.

Entering the straight L'Ami Gaby was still eight lengths clear and showing no sign of stopping. It wasn't till he approached the furlong pole, where he was still five lengths ahead, that he started sending out distress signals, eventually getting caught by the first and second.

L'Ami Gabi is only Listed class on this run. But there has to be a chance he can go faster if he shows more restraint in the early stages. A one furlong cut back in trip is an obvious move too.

The winner PLENTY POCKET (39) is rather reminiscent of his smart sire Super Celeb in that he's a loose limbed, muscular sort with a barrel chest that's clearly built to produce a good turn of foot.

All through the early stages Plenty Pocket moved eye-catchingly well, smoothly running along in fifth place. However with two furlongs left he was still twelve lengths down when his jockey clearly realised the leader wasn't stopping and began to get serious, giving him a crack with the whip. The response was immediate but Plenty Pocket still had eight lengths to make up approaching the furlong pole when he really started to fly, getting up by half a length.

This was in fact Plenty Pocket's second run as he'd contested a schooling race earlier which trainer Elie Lellouche says brought him on significantly. Lellouche says he'll take things as they come with Plenty Pocket who has no Group race entries at present. But the colt will surely be supplemented for a Classic trial soon while the Grand Prix de Paris is an obvious target. The way he traveled and showed such finishing pace suggests the shorter Prix du Jockey Club is also a viable target.

Runner up LE LARRON (39) chased the leader but was at full stretch some way out. His obvious stamina enabled him to close the gap but he couldn't match the winner's terrific finishing burst. He's in the Prix du Jockey Club but, like his three parts brother Jukebox Jury, it looks pretty clear that a mile and a half will be more his distance. So I note with interest that he's already entered in the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Paris over that trip.

Fourth and fifth placed JO ALL THE WAY (37) and ZACK HALL (37) both finished strongly to pull eight lengths clear of the twelve horses behind them. They'll surely be making their mark in pattern company before long.

SIYOUNI WANTS LONGER

Neither of the big French Guineas trials produced a fast time. But I reckon that SIYOUNI (36) who finished second in the Prix de Fontainebleau is rather interesting.

All the riders in Siyouni's race clearly allowed his pacemaker Rajsaman (36) too much rope. Rajsaman was six lengths clear with three furlongs left and got to that point 2.2 seconds later than the fillies in the Prix de la Grotte. The energy he saved enabled him to fly home 1.1 seconds quicker from there than the fillies and it was almost impossible for Siyouni to catch him.

Siyouni finished so strongly he got to within half a length of the winner. And watching him run told me that, despite the fact he's twice won over five furlongs and scored his Group 1 win over 40 yards shy of seven furlongs, he's more a ten furlong horse than a miler. His effort here was only borderline Listed class, even when I take account of the fast finish and slow pace. But over longer I think he's capable of proving competitive in Group 1 company again.

Siyouni is a long striding, mature, good bodied sort that looks absolutely like a ten furlong horse physically. I know he's by a sprinter out of a sprinter. But five of his dam's six winning siblings stayed at least ten furlongs. The other won over nine furlongs in America where very few races are run over longer trips than that. It's also worth noting that his sire produced last year's Oaks winner Sariska. This being so I'm betting Siyouni loses the Poule d'Essai de Poulains but finishes strongly and goes on to do better in the Prix du Jockey Club.

REWILDING SHOULD TURN NOAILLES FORM AROUND

There's no question that PLANTEUR (39) is a smart horse. This good bodied, mature three year old won the Group 2 Prix Noailles in very good style. But it has to be said that he gained a huge advantage by sitting in second place early on. When the sprint for home began off the modest early pace two furlongs out he was able to quickly take the lead as the front runner became unbalanced. This gave him a valuable five length head start on his big rival REWILDING (38).

Rewilding was closing the winner down all the way to the line, moving strong and fast as he showed a very efficient, smooth stride. But the post came too soon and he was still a length and a half down, though full of run, when they passed it.

Rewilding lost a nine furlong race at Longchamp on his racecourse debut at two in a photo.

Watch the video of that race and you'll see that Rewilding's jockey made a big mistake by hustling his mount straight into the lead. For the first two furlongs Rewilding wasn't liking the idea at all and had to be ridden along to stay in the lead. Eventually he consented to settle down and moved more enthusiastically and smoothly. But you only had to look at his ears to see there were problems coming up. His ears were going all over the place like radar scanners. Clearly he was listening for his rivals to come up and join him to make him feel more comfortable instead of being isolated (which is against most horse's natural instincts - as out in the wild it's safest be buried in the hers rather than stick out and risk being picked off by a predator).

Entering the straight it looked likely Rewilding would hang on but his ears were still going this way and that and he was idling, continuing to wait for something to join him. Something eventually did in the last furlong in the form of Handsome Devil and the pair raced up to the line together with Rewilding losing by a neck.

Next time out, as in the Prix Noailles, Rewilding was help up behind the leaders. He improved entering the straight but it looked like he wasn't going to get there with just half a furlong left because he was still two lengths down. However he produced a terrific burst from there to get up and win going right away by a length.

There were those of us who thought Rewilding's trainer Andre Fabre had sold his soul when signing that deal to train almost exclusively for Sheikh Mohammed and run horses under the Godolphin banner in France. But now it's beginning to look like he may actually have cut himself a very good deal. He's still able to train for other owners and is now able to keep several top class prospects that would formerly have been moved to Saeed bin Suroor once he'd developed them.

Fabre has lost many of his best horses to Godolphin over the years. Now that he's running horses in their silks he's clearly able to keep some terrific prospects that he'd have formerly lost. One of them is this regally bred colt that's in all the big races. Another is the unbeaten Cutlass Bay who won the next race, the Prix d'Harcourt.

Rewilding has quite some turn of foot. His brilliant dam Darara has already produced five Group 1 horses plus the Group 2 winner Kilimanjaro. All of them were probably best over a mile and a half. His sire and dam both won Group 1's over a mile and a half too. So it may well be that the 12f Grand Prix de Paris rather than the 10.5f Prix du Jockey Club is going to be Rewilding's best chance of Group 1 success in the first half of the season. It's worthwhile noting that Fabre's Grand Prix de Paris runners tend to go for the Prix Niel and that Prix Niel winners have a terrific record in the Arc. So don't be surprised if Rewilding ends up winning the biggest race of all for this powerful new partnership.

CUTLASS BAY STILL HAS IT

CUTLASS BAY (38) looked like developing into one of the top three year olds last year but suffered a minor fracture in one of his front legs. He was actually set to come back for the Grand Prix de Deauville and then the Arc at one point but was held back till the Prix d'Harcourt to give him more time to recover.

Cutlass Bay won the Prix d'Harcourt narrowly but comfortably, extending his unbeaten record to four races.

Next time out things are going to be tougher for Cutlass Bay because he'll be stepping up to Group 1 company for the Prix Ganay. He has been winning over the Ganay trip of 10.5f and less but is a mature, deep chested, long striding colt that's built and bred for every inch of a mile and a half (he's a full brother to the King Edward VII winner Boscobel).

I spent a good deal of last season raving about what a good horse I thought Cutlass Bay was and how well he'd run to beat his stablemate Cavalryman. The Ganay will give us a chance to see just how good he really is. But if he loses while finishing strongly I wouldn't write him off as he may very well do better over a mile and a half.

SPECIAL DUTY STILL THE ONE TO BEAT IN 1000 GUINEAS

SPECIAL DUTY (37) lost but still put up a very good trial for the 1000 Guineas in the Prix Imprudence. Not fully fit according to trainer Criquette Head and clearly floundering in the very soft ground, Special Duty nonetheless looked set to maintain a two length lead till tiring inside the final furlong. She was rolling slightly from side to side and clearly not getting through the surface very well at all. In the circumstances it was a good effort to go under by just a length to JOANNA (38) who is already Group 1 placed and looks a serious player in the French 1000 Guineas.

As I've mentioned before, French trainers believe that a horse needs experience of Newmarket at two if it is to win the Guineas. And the race they favour for their fillies is the Cheveley Park. This explains why the last three French trained winners of the Cheveley Park all went on to win the 1000 Guineas. I still think Special Duty has a great chance of making it four in a row. She's built and bred to go a mile, was the top filly at two and has clearly trained on.

Joanna is a well proportioned, athletic filly that has a decent turn of foot. She's shown great versatility in being effective over all sorts of distances, courses and ground. It'll take a good horse to beat her in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.

BEHKABAD STILL ON TRACK FOR PRIX DU JOCKEY CLUB

Before BEHKABAD (34) made his seasonal debut in the Prix Omnium trainer Jean-Claude Rouget expressed the wish that the ground wouldn't be too soft for the colt and that he wouldn't have too hard a race. His first wish wasn't granted but the second was thanks to a sympathetic ride from jockey Christophe Lemaire.

Lemaire gave Behkabad one crack on the backside two furlongs out to get him to go about his business but thereafter rode him hands and heels only to finish a decent third. The colt passed the line still mowing well and will clearly come on for the run and appreciate longer than the mile of this contest.

The winner NO RISK AT ALL (37) came through with a very good run from last place to score by a couple of lengths and moved well throughout. But he is a somewhat narrow sort that's only medium sized so I have to wonder how well he'll do when he has to fight his way though a bigger field. So far he's won both times he's tackled fields of eight or less but run unplaced in his other two starts in fields of twelve and sixteen. No doubt he's capable of better than this and I'm sure he'll stay longer since his dam was a two and a half mile chaser that's produced several smart jumpers including Nickname. However this was only a Listed class performance even when I adjust for sectional times and he'll need to produce better to take his next target, the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe in May.

DON'T UNDER-ESTIMATE LILISIDE

LILISIDE (38) ran a mile 0.8 seconds slower than good older horses when winning the Listed Prix Camargo at Saint-Cloud. But she covered the last three furlongs 1.5 seconds quicker. When I adjust for this it suggests a Group 2 class performance for a three year old filly.

Liliside only won by a head but this is misleading. She was racing on the far side of the course where the ground is always slower after rain at Saint-Cloud. The strong finishing runner up ZAGORA (38) was ten horse widths away near the stands rail which meant she was racing on faster ground.

It's easy to knock Liliside's form because she only ran second in a claiming race at Cagnes-Sur Mer on her last start of 2009. But it looks clear from the video of that race that she idled in front after trying to make all the running and is best held up as she was at Saint-Cloud. She's won all her other four starts beyond sprint trips, including two Listed contests.

Liliside's dam was a sprinter, her sire a miler and she has the build of a miler herself, so despite the fact she's already won at nine furlongs I think a mile will prove her best distance. I imagine she'll get an entry for the Prix de la Grotte at Longchamp on April 25th. If she does as well there as my ratings suggest she'll be worth supplementing for the French 1000 Guineas.

Zagora is more a middle distance sort and holds entries in the Prix de Diane and Prix Saint Alary. It's possible she only got so close due to racing on faster ground but she's already run fourth in a Group 3 and will be interesting when stepped up to ten furlongs.

TIMOS HAS BIG CHANCE IN PRIX H'EDOUVILLE IT IT'S SOFT ENOUGH

The new races restricted to female jockeys in France often attract pattern class horses. This was certainly the case with the Prix Girl Friend at Saint Cloud which TIMOS (38) won by fifteen lengths in the hands of British rider Kirsty Milczarek.

Trainer Thierry Doumen has long held Timos in high regard and plans to run the five year old in the Prix d'Hedouville in a few weeks time at Longchamp.

The key to Timos is surely the ground. He's a long striding horse with little in the way of acceleration. He can be made to look rather one paced on fast ground. In addition he had to miss much of last season after cracking a bone slightly in a hind leg so I'm sure Doumen wouldn't want to risk him on too fast a surface in future.

Timos ran second on his racecourse debut. Since then he's won all three times he's run on yielding or softer ground and lost all three times he's run on good or faster. If he gets his ground in the Prix d'Hedouville he'll be hard to beat.