A half-brother to this year’s Group 2 Prix de Sandringham winner Purplepay, Two Fifty Two has shown promise on both starts to date and can make it third time lucky at Saint-Malo this afternoon (2.15pm).
He was sent off second favourite on his debut over 6.5f at Lyon in early June, where he looked green through the race, but finished off to good effect to finish fourth.
It’s interesting that his connections ran him in a class 2 next time, and though it wasn’t the competitive of races for the grade, he was in front until the final half-furlong and ran better than the finishing position might indicate.
He was again strong in the market that day and it’s fair to say he isn’t quite performing to expectations to date. However, this step up in trip could well bring about further improvement from this son of 1m4f performer Cloth Of Stars, who had his first winner as a sire at Vichy yesterday. Two Fifty Two’s other half-sister Pentaiade got off the mark on her third start when upped to a mile, and this does look a very winnable race based on those that have run.
Martingana makes most appeal of the newcomers, but she is priced up as favourite this morning and at bigger odds, Two Fifty Two makes more appeal, despite the wide draw. I didn’t think Leo Roussel was at his best on Biologique for us at the weekend, but his claim is certainly valuable in these contests.
2.15pm Saint-Malo – 1pt win, 0.5pt place Two Fifty Two @ 6-1 (all firms)
Kendaya is interesting in the opening maiden (1.07pm). She isn’t bred for sprinting trips and I’d have liked to see a bit more evidence before backing her, but the standard set by the top two in the market is pretty moderate. In contrast, Kendaya showed up well in a class 2 on debut against seasoned sprinters, and if that’s a fair representation of her ability, she can win this today. 5-1 is probably a little too big.
