Hermes Baie vs. Il Est Francais in the Prix Juigne

Auteuil, Sunday 5 March: The obstacle course in Auteuil is back in the spotlight today with eight races. The Prix Juigne (4th race/15.50 h/135,000 Euro/3600 m) is run as a Group 3 race and addresses eight horses over the hurdle jumps.

Il Est Francais (Felix de Giles) and Hermes Baie (Bertrand Lestrade) share the role of favourites. The former catapulted himself into the top group of the best hurdle horses of his year with four wins in a row. The superior triumph in the Prix Renaud du Vivier (Group 1) against Spirit of The Moon (Ludovic Philipperon), among others, was the most valuable in his career of only seven starts so far. The Nicolle protégé has had considerably more successes. The six-year-old has won ten of his 18 starts, and only in his two most recent appearances did he have to settle for places of honour. The declared goal should again be the Grande Course de Haies d`Auteuil (Group 1), where he made his mark last year. Goa Lil (Kevin Nabet) already had to acknowledge the superiority of Hermes Baie in the Prix de Compiegne (Group 3), but did not go wrong when he finished fifth and later the gelding won a Listed race in Compiegne. Hermes de Chamdoux (Angelo Zuliano) caused a sensation by winning the Prix Questarabad (Group 3), but an injury forced the Cokoriko son to miss around nine months. Kapteen (Nicolas Gauffenic) and Inedit de Ciergues (Gaetan Masure) are used to winning, but meet it challenging.