Thursday, May 29, 2008

A German-bred winner in the Prix Corrida?

The best race in France today is the Group Two Prix Corrida for fillies and mares over 2100 metres at 15.20 CET at Saint-Cloud, and it seems there is an excellent chance of a German-bred winner, as 4 of the 8 runners were bred in Germany, including Mario Hofer´s Fair Breeze (Jean-Pierre Carvalho, replacing suspendeded stable jockey Andreas Helfenbein), a very easy winner on her last trip to France and who will again have the soft ground she needs to show her best form. Baron Ullmann´s Guardia (André Fabre/ Stephane Paquier) and Gestüt Ebbesloh´s Avanti Polonia (Freddie Head/ Davy Bonilla) can also run into the money, as can the Karlshof-bred La Boum (Robert Collet/ Christophe Soumillon), although the likely favourite is Francois Rohaut´s Mrs. Lindsay (Christophe Lemaire), winner of the 2007 Prix Vermeille. Another german-trained runner at Saint-Cloud is Ralf Rohne´s West Pacific (Franck Blondel), who races 19 opponents in a 2100 metres handicap at 16.20. There is also flat racing from La Teste (late start) and trotting from Caen (early start- first race at 12.35).