20 February 2020
Photo Chouain : scoopdyga.com
The last meeting of the winter meeting in Cagnes-sur-Mer takes place this Saturday, showcasing the €75,000 Grand Prix du Département 06 (L), run over an extended mile-and-a-half trip on turf.
Winner of the 2019 renewal, Good Question (Manduro) beat 3rd-placed Libello (Archipenko)on that day, but the latter, trained by Cédric Boutin for a partnership led by Ecurie Benoît Roualec, has just taken his revenge in the preparatory race, the Prix William Alexandre Ruinat, on February 1 on the same trip. On that day, he hadn't run for two months, unlike Good Question, who finished well in third place ahead of, among others, the 4-year-old Matandar (Rio de la Plata), and the 10-year-old Mille et Mille (Muhtathir), who hadn't run since October.
The 4-year-olds have had good results in this race. They have 2lbs allowance, which benefited Good Question and Calypso Song, two 4-year-olds who took the first two places last year when they were only three of this young generation in departure. A year earlier, two 4-year-olds took part in the race, including the one finishing second to the 9yo Garlingari.
In addition to Matandar, the younge generation will be represented by the German Ladykiller (Kamsin), trained by Andreas Wöhler, who must carry three kilos for having won a Group 3 at Hoppegarten last year over 3,000 metres, or 15 furlongs. However, he has won in Dortmund last time out and he has the second best weight/rating ratio of the race (+10kgs), an index which points out the 4yo filly Moonoon (Sea the Moon), whose weight exceeds the value by 16 pounds only. This representative of Normandie Pur-Sang is the only filly in the running. She's trained by Christophe Ferland and has been away since her second place in a Group 2 in Rome in November.
Two other 4 years old are in, with Chouain (Rajsaman), also trained in Germany by Miroslav Rulec and a recent winner on this turf for his second race after a long absence, and Purple Victory (War Command ), fifth to Matandar for his return.
This very international race will also feature and English challenge as the 5 year old Collide (Frankel) hails from Hugo Palmer's yard for the prestigious owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah.
Note that before this closing meeting, the leading owner is Bernard Giraudon, from Lyon, with 5 wins and more than € 99,000 in winnings and premiums, ahead of Gérard Augustin-Normand, who is approximately € 1,200 shy of the first place with the same number of wins but has no starters on Saturday. Trainer Christophe Escuder leads the table with 10 wins for 99 runners and more than € 315,000 in prizemoney and bonuses, against 10 wins in 67 runners and less than € 300,000 for the second-placed Fabrice Vermeulen. Jean-Claude Rouget, head of the list in 2019, comes in third position with 12 victories for 41 starters (almost 30% success rate), ahead of Frédéric Rossi, who is close behind with prizemoney and premiums of almost € 280,000.