1. Home
  2. €235,000 Grand Steeple Masters Murat Chase (Gr2): Youtwo Glass clears Auteuil fences

€235,000 Grand Steeple Masters Murat Chase (Gr2): Youtwo Glass clears Auteuil fences

6 April 2024

Murat 24 Youtwo Glass

Photo scoopdyga

 

Saturday, 6 April 2024, Auteuil Racecourse (Paris) - The odds-on favourite in the €235,000 Grand Steeple-Chase Masters Murat Chase (Gr2), the penultimate prep race for the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris (Gr1) in six weeks, Il est Français dramatically faded in the final straight.
Initially in front, Gallipoli (Gleneagles) led up to the Stands' water jump, where he lost several positions. This, in a way, forced Il est Français to take the lead outside of Gran Diose (Planteur) and Youtwo Glass (Joshua Tree), overtaking them subsequently.
Suddenly out of contention going into the 2nd last jump after a spectacular leap at the rail-ditch-and-fence, Gallipoli and Youtwo Glass battled it out, with the winner of the 2023 Grand Prix de Pau Chase (Gr3), securing victory by a neck.

Second in the Pau Premier chasing event last winter, Youtwo Glass, wearing the colours of Giuseppe Mele but bred and trained by his daughter Daniela, hadn't won at Auteuil since June 2021, in his debut over the fences after winning the Prix Camille Duboscq 4yo Hurdle Race (L) at Pau.
Youtwo Glass has won seven out of the nine races in his career at Pau and finished second in his two other outings at Pont-Long. He is the second foal out of Sea Glass (Martaline), a mare bought for €2,000 at two by Daniela Mele at the Deauville sales in 2010. His second dam is a sister to the good chaser Cyfor Malta (Cyborg), a winner at the highest level at Auteuil, Cheltenham, and Aintree, among others.
Sea Glass, more modestly, raced ten times in France over four seasons, including six times in claiming races on the flat and over hurdles, ending her career in Switzerland on the flat.
After Youtwo Glass, she produced Seniorita (Martinborough), a winner on her debut at Britanny but also entered in the Wild Monarch and Géographie 3yo Fillies Hurdle races, and is now at stud, followed by Loctali Glass (Voiladenuo, AQPS), aged three.

Next stage of the Grand Steeple-Chase Masters: The Ingré Chase (Gr2) on April 27th.

What connections said :

Daniela Mele (the trainer of Youtwo Glass, 1st) – Gavray (Normandy region)

"I wasn't expecting that! He's fantastic, and the blinkers have done him a power of good. He's very clever. When I saw him on his toes at the start, I said to myself that he could go far [in the race]. This horse is a dream. If he comes out of the race in good order, he'll go straight to the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. Now I've got to encourage my parents to come to see him run!"

Noel George (co-trainer of Gallipolli, 2nd and Il est Français 5th) – Chantilly (Hauts de France)

"I'm obviously a bit disappointed with Il est Français. The horse raced freely and didn't channel his energy properly. That cost him in the end. The aim was to teach him a good lesson before the Grand Steeple [de Paris]. Maybe the horse was too fresh, and [perhaps] we had given too much thought to the Grand Steeple. He's going to get a lot fitter.  We need to think about how we will ride him [in future] to channel his energy accordingly. Given that he’s so easy in the morning, it's difficult to know what condition the horse is in. Few can lay up with him. Despite getting beaten, Gallipolli ran a blinder. He was a bit more relaxed during the race, and having had three races under his belt this year [has helped]. We're going to head to the Grand Steeple with and him, he'll have a good chance in that race. He'll be a bit fresher."

Louisa Carberry (the trainer of Gran Diose, 3rd) – Senonnes-Pouancé (Pays de la Loire)

"I knew he wasn’t fully wound up on his comeback race as I ride him every morning! He's come on for the race since then. On this occasion, he asked for a breather after jumping the last fence. A clear third, he didn't have a hard race. I hope that in six weeks' time, he'll have made even more progress and that the ground will be less texting. If all goes well, he'll head straight to the Grand Steeple with no further prep race under his belt."