STAR VALLEY IS A SERIOUSLY GOOD SPRINTER

In the past few years a predictable pattern has emerged in the Group and Listed sprints run in France for older horses. Normally the British runners win. Or occasionally Swedish Shave will see off the foreign raiders. However, in the Group 3 Prix de Meutry the pattern was broken by STAR VALLEY (42) who clocked a terrific time in the mud to beat Swedish Valley two lengths with the Brits further behind.

This was the first time Star Valley had run over a trip less than seven furlongs and clearly he improved for the cut back in distance. His trainer noted that the horse had won the only previous time he'd encountered ground as soft, so the going obviously had a lot to do with the big run too.

It's kind of a shame Star Valley isn't in the Abbaye as he'd be very interesting if the ground came up soft for that race. In any event, he ran so fast that I'd be wary of opposing him even at seven furlongs or a mile in the near future providing the going is soft. This is a very good horse that ran fast enough to take a Group 1 race here.

The Prix Haras de la Huderie is usually one of the hottest Listed races for two year olds run in Europe. It looked up to standard this year as the winner STOP MAKING SENSE (34) earned a solid Group 3 rating from me. He has now won both his starts since a promising debut effort over an inadequate five furlongs and could be anything.

Runner-up MOLTO BELLO (33) has clearly improved for the step up to seven furlongs and ought to be capable of taking at least a Listed race sometime soon.

MAMELA IS SMART

The German filly MAMELA (39) won a hot Listed event at Deauville in a time that would take many Group races (she has in fact already won at that level). There are a couple of gaps in Mamela's career where I assume she had some sort of training problem. It's tempting to assume that the problem was something to do with her legs, seeing that all her wins have been on soft ground to date. In any event Mamela has now won all three times she's had a recent run, taking pattern races in Germany, Italy and now France. She's clearly very progressive and could be anything. She's actually pretty hard to assess as she only ever seems to do enough to win narrowly. I'd have fancied her at big odds in the Sun Chariot Stakes if only she'd been entered. Certainly I'd be wary of opposing her.

Runner-up BELLE ANGE (39) has been experimented with quite a bit this year - running at all distances from 6.5 to 10.5 furlongs, taking in handicaps and conditions races and even racing on Fibresand. As a result there are excuses for several of her recent losses. It looks like she wasn't suited by a slow early pace in a Listed race last time. She was hampered and knocked back to last in an 18 runner Tierce handicap. And she became unbalanced on the downhill section of the course at Longchamp. She'd won four of her other five recent starts and showed how good she is here. As long as she avoids Longchamp and other tracks with undulations, she looks capable of winning for the fifth time this season soon.

On the same card SOCKS FOR GLENN (38) won a class A Tierce handicap in a time that would win many Group sprints in France. In fact, Socks For Glenn was dropping in class from a Group 2 last time out where he ran quite well. He seems to be well suited by the fast early pace that's invariably generated by the big fields in Tierce Handicaps and has won two of the last three times he's run in such races. Like the vast majority of good sprinters in France he was not bred locally. He was foaled in Britain where he raced as a two year old. The French racing programme doesn't cater much for sprinters so the French breeders seem to focus on breeding for longer distances. This means a horse with the speed Socks For Glenn showed here can make hay - as long as he can avoid the overseas runners. For this reason I'd say Socks For Glenn is worth following, especially back in another Tierce handicap rather than a Group race where he'd likely be up against the faster foreign starters.

Later in the week, the Prix Morny demonstrated one of the biggest changes that's happened in racing worldwide over the last decade or two. This has been the decrease in the number of runs that the better two year olds are given. Gone are the days when we'd see a two year old like Timeless Times win sixteen races as a juvenile. Nowadays the best youngsters tend to be given just one or two starts at two right at the end of the season. The best youngsters are rarely seen out before the Autumn any more.

Nowhere has this trend been as strong as it is in France. These days the majority of the top French horses don't even race at two at all. In fact, up until July, the French two year olds that race are so moderate that the majority of juvenile races run in France till then are claiming contests.

The Prix Morny remains one of the first Group 1 race for two year olds run in Europe each season, but it's a bogus Group 1 these days. In the 23 years prior to 1994 the French two year olds were so strong that no foreign horse won. However, in the latest ten years prior to this year the race had gone to a foreign-trained runner no less than eight times - with most of them being no better than group 3 performers.

Divine Proportions (32), this year's winner, doesn't look that smart to me, despite the big write ups she's been given. She continued this year's trend of moderate times in Group races for two year olds when taking the Prix Morny. She's now unbeaten in four starts, but she's been running against the weak two year old opposition that's available in France till the Autumn. She should have run a big speed figure by now if she were really going to be a classic candidate next year. I'm betting that she, and most of the juvenile Group winners we've seen so far, are going to be brushed aside by the host of fast maiden winners we've seen in the last couple of months.

LUNE D'OR HAS REAL CHANCE IN VERMEILLE

The massively expanded programme of pattern races for fillies and mares has enticed the owners of many of the top older females to keep them in training. They've been beating up on the three year olds most of this season, but LUNE D'OR (41) and HIDDEN HOPE (41) held their elders at bay in a very hot renewal of the Prix de Pomone at Deauville.

Lune D'or lost both her seasonal debuts but is unbeaten in three other starts, including another Group 2 last time out. Her trainer, Richard Gibson says that she appreciated the strong pace set by Ile Rousse. He also says she hasn't stopped improving. Her big objective is the Prix Vermeille next month. This season the Vermeille has been opened up to older horses, so it looks set to be a fiercely competitive affair. In fact, I suspect that it will now come to be recognized as the European championship event for middle distance fillies. It looks a particularly hot race this year but Lune D'Or has run fast enough to go close. She's clearly a solid Group 1 performer.

Hidden Hope ran a big race to go under by half a length to Lune D'Or. I note with interest that she's still entered in the Prix Minerve at Deauville on the 24th. The slight concern is that Hidden Hope's two best and fastest runs (the other being in the Cheshire Oaks) have been in very strongly run races, and French races are quite often slow run affairs. She didn't settle well in a slower run Ribblesdale stakes at Ascot. Still, it's early days yet. Wherever she goes next Hideen Hope looks one to follow.

Third placed SWEET STREAM (41) had won the previous two times she'd run a mile and a half or more. Her trainer, John Hammond says that she stays well and appreciates a strong gallop. He added that soft ground would be no problem to her either.

The race I'd love to see Sweet Stream in is the Park Hill stakes at Doncaster. I'd rate her a certainty there. In France she's always likely to encounter problems with the slower early pace that's endemic over there. To counteract this, the logical thing to do with Sweet Stream is surely to step her up to longer distances. In this regard I note with interest that she's been entered in the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay over 1m 7f at Deauville on the 22nd of this month. That race is against colts but Sweet Stream ran fast enough to win it on this occasion.

Rain made the going a bit slower the next day at Deaville and this probably helped mudlarks Somnus (40) and Whipper (40) go 1-2 in the Maurice de Gheest. Still, like many of the Group 1's for older horses this year, it wasn't really that fast. So I can't recommend following any of the runners.

One of the reasons the Maurice de Gheest was relatively slow is that there is a very limited programme of sprints in France. As a result horses on average tend to be bred for longer distances than elsewhere. So when they produce a decent sprinter, despite the limited opportunities, it can do very well even if it runs a few ticks slower than its counterparts in Britain. This looks likely to be the case with the three year old NIGHT CHAPTER (38) who ran a solid Group class time to win a class B conditions race over six furlongs at Deauville. He would have gone pretty close in the Maurice de Gheest on this run.

Night Chapter doesn't seem to take after the rest of his family in terms of their stamina (his dam was a miler and her only other foal to race was a middle distance runner). But, like them, he does seem to prefer a bit of cut in the ground. He's run below form on ground that my going allowances indicate was genuinely firm. But on good or softer he's won both times he's run over sprint trips.

Night Chapter could be anything. Certainly he's up to winning a Group race.

MONTECARMELO (33) looks like a potential Listed performer at least following his win in fast time at Vichy. Like many of the better two year olds in France, he was forced to break his maiden at a provincial track owing to the scarcity of juvenile races at the top courses. He's a half brother to the Group 3 winner Loving Pride and the US Grade 3 winner Hula Queen, and looks likely to stay a fair bit further than the five furlongs of this race judged on his pedigree. I'd bet on him getting at least seven furlongs. Montecarmelo's win rates as the fastest by a French juvenile to date. That isn't really saying much though, because the French race their top horses much later and much less than elsewhere in Europe as two year olds.

Runner-up LITTLE FARM (32) had shown improved form to win at Aix-Les-Bains on her previous start and continued the upward trend here. My ratings suggest that she'd now be competitive in at least Listed company. But, seeing that her form is all at provincial tracks and that she's won just one of her six starts, I'd bet on her starting at big odds if she switched to one of the big French courses next time.

DIAMOND GREEN STILL LOOKING GOOD FOR THE MAROIS & QEII

There aren't many opportunities for a pattern class miler in Germany. So it wasn't surprising to see RYONO (38) make another trip to win the Prix Messidor. This was his second French win. He'd taken an Italian Listed race on his previous outing and is well up to taking another Group race on this showing.

Runner-up DIAMOND GREEN (36) started at ten to one on. And he clearly did not run up to his best. This was almost certainly because the going was soft according to my going allowance. In fact the ground was no less than four seconds a mile slower than anything Diamond Green had raced on before. Last year Andre Fabre scratched Diamond Green from the Grand Criterium because he said he would not be able to act on the soft ground. It was therefore rather curious that he let him take his chance here. My best guess is that he felt the horse needed a run before the Prix Jacques Le Marois next month. My ratings still say Diamond Green is the fastest miler now that Azamour is stepping up to longer trips. So, if the normal fast ground prevails at Deauville, I'd bet on Diamond Green winning the big race. I just hope someone starts betting on the QEII before the Marois is run. They'd surely offer a very nice price about Diamond Green following this very excusable defeat.

BAILADOR (39) is a very consistent Group runner and ran his best race to date to win the Grand Prix de Vichy. He is improving slowly on my ratings and may progress to win a Group 2 now.

Runner-up DEMON DANCER (39) is seven but had only run ten times before this race, winning five. He'd been showing steady improvement to win his last two and continued the trend here with a big run in second. I can see him taking a Group race at a nice price sometime soon. And I note with interest that he's entered in the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on the 14th of August. I'd fancy his chances there.

LATICE (41) maintained her unbeaten record with a tremendous win in the Prix de Diane. She has a tremendous burst of acceleration and has already used it to beat the very smart Group 1 winning colt Voix Du Nord. Her big objective is now the Arc de Triomphe, and with Bago being pointed to the Breeders' Cup, she looks set to start a pretty warm favourite on the PMU on the day. It's tough to say how good she is. All we can say is that she's clearly one of the best fillies we've seen in Europe for some time. We'll only get a fair measure of her talents when she faces older males who will press her to run faster than she has so far.

I suspect Latice is going to win the Arc. Her best rivals look likely to be unsuited to the likely going or the distance.

LOLVE AND BUBBLES (38) ran poorly in the Prix de Diane, probably because she wasn't suited to the lightning fast ground. On a somewhat slower surface (good by my estimates) she bounced back to form to take the Group 3 Prix Chloe 11 days later in good time. She's clearly pretty darned useful and would not be without a chance in the Nassau stakes for which she is entered.

BECQUARETTE (34) is another three year old filly worth noting. A few runs back she was racing in claimers. But she won for the third time in her last three starts on her latest outing at Chantilly. The time she clocked puts her in with a real shot in Listed company against her own sex. In fact, the runner-up has already gone on to win a class A handicap.

Yet another three year old filly that's one to look out for is PETIT CALVA (38) who took a Deauville Listed race in Group class time. I can remember getting excited about Petit Calva when she won in fast time on her racecourse debut last season. Now that she's going a mile she's returned to that sort of form.

GREENBELT (37) won a conditions race at Clariefontaine in Listed class time. He's now won both times since he was stepped up from a mile. He's already been entered for a Listed contest, and he'd be an attractive bet in that class.

THE TRADER (41) demonstrated the superiority of British sprinters by winning the Prix du Ris Orangis at Deauville. If he makes another visit to France or Ireland I'd bet him to win again. In fact he'd have a serious shot in the Abbaye.

One French sprinter that's worth following is PAYPHONE (36). He broke his maiden in fine style when cut back to five and a half furlongs at Chantilly. He's around Listed class at least and, seeing how weak the French sprinters are, he could well win a pattern race sometime soon.