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POSTED ON JUNE 25, 2008 GOOSE BAY IS A TOP CLASS FILLY The Italians must get fed up with the Germans winning all their big middle-distance races. But their horses are so speedily bred and the Germans stay so well there's little they can do about it. Last Sunday the Germans took the two big races at San Siro. And interestingly, the German winner that clocked the fastest time was not international star Quijano in the Gran Premio di Milano but GOOSE BAY (40) who took the Oaks d'Italia. German horses have won the Italian Oaks five of the last nine times they've run in the race. But I think Goose Bay is in a different league to the other Prussian winners. She certainly clocked a very fast time here and ranks as one of the very best middle distance fillies in Europe on this run. The searching pace and heavy ground clearly suited Goose Bay really well. She's a long striding, deep chested sort that looks like she stays all day. She forged steadily further ahead through the last two furlongs and was still traveling strongly at the finish. Goose Bay's best run at two came when she ran a close third to the very smart pair Pomellato and Peace Royal in the Maurice Lecroix Trophy, Germany's top two year old race. Pomellato went on to win a Group 2 in France and is a classy colt. Peace Royale has run seriously fast times and is almost certainly a Group 1 filly. That run and her two previous wins were on good ground, so Goose Bay is clearly not just a mudlark. On this run Goose Bay looks the one they all have to beat in the German Oaks.
VOILA ICI IS WORTH FOLLOWING I noted after he'd come from miles back to finish fifth in the Derby Italiano that VOILA ICI (31) would be worth betting back over a mile and a half, especially if he got soft ground, seeing that he shows a pronounced knee action. Voila Ici very nearly proved me right when running a good second to the smart globetrotter QUIJANO (32) in the Gran Premio di Milano. In this race the jockeys all seemed scared of chasing after the front running Gimmy (31), presumably because of the heavy ground. So they all just sat there as Gimmy strode further and further ahead. At one point Gimmy was a dozen lengths ahead. And entering the homestraight, as he started to accelerate and sprint for the line, it looked like he might have stolen it. But Quijano and Voila Ici steadily closed the gap on him and got by inside the final furlong.
Voila Ici cannot have been suited to the slow early pace and was staying on well towards the finish to almost become the first three year old to win the race in decades. I can see him staying longer than this and would be rather interested in his chances if he got entered for the St Leger. Certainly he looks capable of winning a big race sometime this season, most probably in the Autumn when he'll be more likely to get soft ground.
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