Race one this morning at Chantilly looks a shootout between German raider Lamento and Quinté regular Roberto Mount.
Lamento arrives here having just his third racecourse start and is priced defensively at 13/8, based on a win in a similar event earlier this month, He had stronger entries on this card and could be someone we hear a lot more from. I respect him but he was in receipt of 3kg from the 35.5-rated favourite last time and this will be tougher against a better Quinté horse, Roberto Mount.
Roberto Mount is similar to yesterday’s headline selection Fayathann in that he loves polytrack. This brother to Hungarian crack sprinter Overdose is a regular in feature handicaps and two of his three career wins were recorded over this track. I don’t mind the step up in trip today, especially as he faces few legitimate rivals.
He should go very close and he should win if the favourite suffers a ‘bounce’.
10.35am Chantilly – 1pt win Roberto Mount @ 9/4 (various, or 5/2 with William Hill)
Race 7 is a handicap and the filly Zillipom is a slam dunk for this type of event this winter – but she will need some luck. She has run storming efforts at Longchamp and Saint-Cloud since October and has demonstrated a turn of foot rarely seen in this company.
At Longchamp she turned for home in last place and was beaten in a photo. Last month she looked the winner in the home straight at Saint-Cloud, only to suffer late on for the extra ground covered. Finally, she last appeared over this C&D 3 weeks ago and finished a fast-finishing 7th with her regular pilot Benoist hardly giving her a tap.
This is winnable and she should be very fun to follow in the run.
1.50pm Chantilly – 1pt each-way Zillipom @ 7-1 (various, 4 places, 1/4)