Like a migrating bird, French Jumps racing heads south for the winter and this Monday sees the start of the winter jumps cards at Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Pau. The real reason they head south is to try to reduce the risk of Frost affecting the ground, but it sounds more romantic to describe it the other way. This is a 7-race card that includes 2 divisions of the Prix du Vercors, a 3-year-old “newcomers” hurdle that has produced the likes of Privatory, Nyiri and Margaret’s Legacy in recent years. It would be impossible to form an opinion on these races, although Feu Sacre does make some appeal in the opening race based on his pedigree (a half-brother to Feu Follet). However, I’m not a punter that likes to bet when there isn’t confirmed form in the book, so instead I will look at the later races for today’s selections.
Bet on the French Racing Pools Here
11:20 Prix Ucello II
My first selection comes in the 3rd race, which is also the Class 1 feature, the Prix Ucello II, a 3-year-old only Chase over 3,800-metres. Several of these are likely to improve for the switch to fences and even though Kaprilia has winning form over fences from Fontainebleau, she doesn’t set an impossible standard, and I would not be surprised to see something improve past her. Yannick Fouin has a superb record at Cagnes and at the start of the season, I thought Advice was going to be a star after he won on debut at Lyon Parilly in a race that worked out very well. However, after going unsold with Auctav, he hasn’t looked the same horse and he was beaten 18-lengths at Compiegne on his latest start so it it too much of a leap of faith, though I am interested to see how he goes over fences.
Instead, I will stick with the proven form of Worth a Team. He won nicely over hurdles at Fontainebleau in March with several winners in behind him and was far from disgraced when running in Pattern Company at Auteuil in the Spring. He has had a couple of prep runs for this meeting on the Flat at Compiegne and Le Croise-Laroche, winning a Class 3 contest at the latter track in early November. Although he isn’t bred to be a chaser, he isn’t bred to be a hurdler either, yet he has achieved far more than most of these and on a speed track like Cagnes-Sur-Mer, this race should setup perfectly for him.
Advised Selection: Worth a Team (Win and Place)
12:25 Prix De La Tamise
My other selection comes in the 5th race on the card, which is a Handicap Chase for the older horses over 4,000-metres. Although we have a field of 14 going to post, this is a low grade contest (0-52-kilos on ratings) and the number of horses who could be considered to be “in form” is very small. Top of my list is Aimant. Trained by Jean Baudron in the Dubois silks, he was a Listed winner of the Prix Finot on his debut for David Cottin back in 2021. He hasn’t quite delivered on the promise that he showed when making that winning debut, but the switch back to the Baudron yard for the second spell of his career and Racing in the South has definitely improved this 5-year-old. He finished second on this mark in a handicap chase over fences at Nimes on 1st November before going one better over hurdles there 10-days later. This is a deeper race on a track that presents a more difficult jumping test, but he shaped like an improver and should be suited by the nature of this race. A mark of 51-kilos looks very fair, especially on his earlier form and with relatively few rivals to challenge him, he makes solid each-way appeal.
Advised Selection: Aimant (Win and Place)
