Grand Prix de Paris

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chroniclandlord

Senior Jockey
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There are 13 possible runners in next week's Grand Prix de Paris, including Jan Vermeer, Fencing Master and At First Sight. No other horses from the UK or Ireland have been left in.
 
Ice Blue
Behkabad
Shimraan
At First Sight
Fencing Master
Dara Tango
Planteur
Vivre Libre
Ivory Land
Lawspeaker
Allesson
Jan Vermeer
Grande Saggio
 
And the Great Voltigeur and Juddmonte.

Although I don't think he expands too much energy just being entered in them.
 
Clueless campaigning.

If they don't fancy him as a potentially top horse, then why not sell him when his stock is high?
 
He will probably end up with Mike De Koch or could do well in America given his ability to handle firm ground.

He is the kind of horse they usually sell off privately.
 
Gamla Stan said:
It's beyond clueless, it's moronic and borderline cruelty.
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I do not think Ballydoyle will mind if the Epsom Derby form is quickly exposed - that is what it looks like they are doing.

I thought he ran pretty well at Ascot and even better at The Curragh - he was not tailed off and probably ran pretty near his best form as he was flattered at Epsom. I could name off a list of horses that have run more times this season than At First Sight - so not sure how 5 runs can be viewed a borderline cruelty.

As Powerscourt said he will be sold off.
 
As I said on other threads, he had an incredibly tough race at Epsom, one of the toughest a three year old could ever have. To run him again 2 weeks later at Ascot and then another 2 weeks later at the Curragh, employing the same gruelling tactics just baffles me.

They also didn't seem to have much faith in the horse LTO by putting Joseph O'Brien on. As Hamm says, why not just secure a sale off the back of some creditable performances whilst there's still a horse there for other people?

He's obviously tough enough to handle his campaign as he showed at the Curragh but it will surely show it's signs soon enough.
 
Gamla Stan said:
As I said on other threads, he had an incredibly tough race at Epsom, one of the toughest a three year old could ever have.
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But did he? He had a handy lead for much of the way and kicked on off the bend catching others on the hop. If it was the toughest race a three year old could ever have he surely would not have been able to run to the level he did at Ascot.

O'Brien did this over jumps and again on the flat - he gets his horses out and running regularly and they seem to hold their form.
 
I don't think they are doing much harm to him but they are clearly going to sell him, and his value was ever only going to go down after Epsom. They should have done a Masterofthehorse!
 
He set a furious tempo and they smashed the course record, I thought it was pretty tough.

I just don't know why they don't sell him while they can make a decent sum off him.
 
Well, I think the clue is further back in this thread as hinted at by Gal. He runs a really good race in The Derby but one of theirs isn't the winner. So keep running the horse fairly frequently at the highest level which he will fail to handle and expose him, which in turn casts a shadow over The Derby winner and anything else he was close to in his first couple of races.

Which is a horribly cynical view, I know but so Coolmore..
 
I don't think that's either true nor would it even work...

For example, if Workforce comes out and wins a top class King George - what does it matter if At First Sight can't even win a handicap off 90? Seeing as the Irish Derby has made Workforce's Derby look really good, the only view to take at this stage is that At First Sight was extremely flattered by the way the race was run.
 
I don't think it would work either. Everything about Workforce's performance screams top class, regardless of what any of the others come out and do. Only Workforce himself can let it down.
 
It has been reported in Australia a few days ago. It seems weird to me that nothing has yet been reported elsewhere though.
 
Just a word of warning for anyone thinking of laying them heavily for the Leger-last year Alandi was sold to race in Australia before his victory in the Irish Leger.
 
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