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MYBOYCHARLIE IS A SMART SPRINTER The French just don't breed sprinters. And in the last decade or so they rarely run their best horses at two, except for the occasional run right at the end of the season. This being so it's inevitable that the Prix Morny is a soft target for foreign raiders. And you can see this from the results. Foreign runners have an exception record in the Prix Morny. And all of those that won scored on their latest start and lost no more than one previous race. Here is how the foreign Prix Morny runners have done that matched this profile from 1994 to 2006 fared; 2006 Dutch Art WON 4-1 2005 Silca's Sister WON 9-1 Ivan Denisovich second 2003 Carrizo Creek fifth
2002 Elusive City WON 19-10 Al Turf fifth 2001 Johannesburg WON 3-5 Meshaheer third 2000 Bad As I Wanna Be WON 144/10 Endless Summer second (disq) Pyrus fourth Red Magic fifth 1999 Fasilyev WON 6-5 Warm Heart second Bachir third 1998 Orpen WON 13-2 Exeat second Red Sea seventh 1996 Bahamian Bounty WON 56/10 Rich Ground fourth 1994 Hoh Magic WON 24/10 Bruttina second This year there was just a single foreign runner in the Prix Morny that had won last time out and lost no more than once. The horse in question was MYBOYCHARLIE (39), and sure enough he won in seriously good style. Myboycharlie is built and bred like a sprinter. Indeed his sire, Danetime has never had a pattern winner beyond sprint trips from 24 attempts. And all 46 runners by Danetime that have tried to win at a mile or more in races worth 20,000 pounds or more all lost. His dam has produced nothing but sprinters when she's been mated with sires whose progeny have an average winning distance anything like as low as Danetime's too. As I see it the idea that Myboycharlie could stay the mile of the 2000 Guineas is fanciful. He's surely nothing but a sprinter. However he is a very good sprinter, and I see nothing that's likely to stop him winning the Middle Park Stakes. I'd be inclined to oppose Myboycharlie if he is stepped up to seven furlongs this season. Next season he'll face a tough task beating older horses in the top sprints. So I imagine the main job Coolmore have for him is to retain his unbeaten record at two and get another Group 1 win in the Middle Park. That will make him an attractive stallion. The brilliant NATAGORA (37) tried to stretch the field. But she's bred for longer trips and Myboycharlie simply swamped her for speed in the closing stages. She kept on strongly and still looks an interesting candidate for the Prix Marcel Boussac and any other longer race she gets entered for. It was even worse for the Fabre-trained ALEXANDROS (36). He'd broken his maiden over seven furlongs and was clearly having problems with the shorter trip here. He finished full of run however and was closing the gap nicely towards the finish. When he steps up to a longer distance I'd be wary of opposing him. He looks a future Group 1 winner in the making and would be rather interesting if shipped over to Britain for the Dewhurst Stakes.
MANDURO DOES IT AGAIN I was a big fan of MANDURO (33) last season. Now that he's so popular I keep trying to find a reason to bet against him. The cut back to a mile was the reason I plumped for in the Prix Jacques le Marois. But it proved no obstacle to the smart German bred who stretched his unbeaten record this term to four races. An interesting aspect of Manduro's win was that it was achieved in a time 1.2 seconds slower than the Listed handicap over the same course and distance a few races earlier. Clearly the early pace wasn't strong. Logically you'd think this would have been a big problem for a middle distance horse like Manduro but clearly it wasn't. Seeing how big a reputation he now has I shall continue to look for reasons to oppose Manduro. But I confess I'm fast beginning to lose enthusiasm in the idea. He seems capable of beating anything at any distance on any ground on any sort of course off any sort of pace.
NOBLE PRINCE LOOKING GOOD FOR PRIX LUTECE Andre Fabre relies heavily on the top German stud farms to provide him with pattern winners these days. So it's not surprising he scored a patter race double with German breds Manduro and NOBLE PRINCE (38) at Deauville. Manduro proved that not all German breds stay forever in the Marois. But Noble Prince went the more traditional route for horses bred in Germany by improving massively for the step up to 1m 7f in the Listed Prix Michel Houyvet. Noble Prince is still in the Arc but the Group 3 Prix Lutece over 1m 7f is his next target. I rather wish he was going to be supplemented for the St Leger as he'd make an interesting contender for that race. Certainly he looks a good prospect for staying races from now on.
WATCH OUT FOR SENTINELESE AT ASCOT NEXT MONTH Over in France they don't have many super-valuable handicaps. There are the 'Tierce' handicaps run on an almost daily basis which are worth 48,000 Euro in total. But there are only a handful of more valuable handicaps. And the most valuable of all is the 100,000 Euro Grand handicap de Deauville which is also the only French handicap to carry pattern status. This year's renewal of the Grand Handicap de Deauville was won in clear cut fashion by SENTINELESE (39) who was running beyond a sprint trip for the first time in his life. He showed marked improvement for the step up to a mile and looks more than capable of taking a Group race in the near future. Sentinelese actually clocked a time 1.2 seconds faster for the straight mile at Deauville than Manduro managed later on the card in a slow run renewal of the Prix Jacques le Marois. So he's clearly a useful horse in these circumstances. Actually I strongly suspect that Sentinelese will be kept to handicaps and shipped over to Britain for some of the really valuable ones staged on this side of the Channel. I say this because there is an unwritten agreement between the French handicapper and owners. If they keep entering a horse for Tierce handicaps they'll bend over backwards to keep its official rating low enough so that it remains eligible. This keeps a high class French horse's rating artificially low. Nobody knows this better than John Hammond, the trainer of Sentinelese. He is British and has made several successful raids on big British handicaps with well weighted Tierce handicappers. No doubt he already has his eyes on a couple of big British handicaps. The screamingly obvious UK target for Sentilese is the 100,000 pound seven furlong handicap run at Ascot next month. I'd be suprised if John Hammond doesn't send him over for that race. Sentinelese would also be an interesting candidate for the Cambridgeshire. The Ascot race looks more his distance though and I see him as the one they'll all have to beat in that event.
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