Chantilly trainer Nicolas Clément opened his doors to the Race Sharp Team this week and has a fine string for this flat season. Winner of the Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe in 1990 with Saumarez, Clément has hopes of a second Arc success this year with Fénelon.

The yard has saddled two Chantilly winners in the last couple of weeks and we believe the best is still to come, with the wraps soon to be taken off his star older horses and his best three-year-old expected to step forward in maiden company this month.

Here are the horses that caught our attention, listed in order of age:

Control Tower

5yo mare (Youmzain x La Tour Rouge)

She’s a nice mare and has been very consistent and ran to about 108 in winning the Group Three Prix Belle De Nuit at Saint-Cloud last October.

She loves a trip and will be aimed at the Listed Prix Gold River at ParisLongchamp on 12 May. She loves cut in the ground and she’s out of a Monsun mare. She has done extremely well and it took us a long time to work out her trip!

I have high hopes for her this campaign.

 

Fénelon

4yo colt (Fastnet Rock x Aigue Marine)

He is exciting. He won both his starts last year, including winning the Listed race in incredible style, beating a nice horse, Soldier Rising, who was one of the top three-year-olds in America. He had some issues with his back last year and so we gave him plenty of time – let’s hope our patience will be rewarded. He spent two months on a water treadmill and has done extremely well since returning to my yard.

He’s a horse we can dream with and I hope that the dream will become reality. We are looking at a conditions race in May for him, then the ambitious plan would be possibly the Grand Prix de Chantilly, followed by the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Then in the autumn there’s a big race on the first weekend of October for him…

Regarding the ground, he’s a big type, so I would be cautious if the ground came up very quick at Chantilly. He would like a tiny bit of cut and I don’t want to jar him up.

 

Caprice Des Dieux

4yo gelding (Declaration of War x Neko)

He has done extremely well over the winter and is one of my two star older horses for this season. He’s rated close to 110 and has won four of his six starts. He wasn’t at his best in the Deauville Group Two, which was a strong renewal with William Haggas’ Dubai Honour. I think he will have a very good year and he’s a horse that can travel.

He will start his season on 21 April and then anything can happen after that. If does well in that he could run at Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes weekend, which is in early June, in the Grade One Manhattan Stakes over ten furlongs. I would love to take on my brother’s turf horse!  I think he could be the right type for America as Declaration of War seems to do very well over there.

 

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Sea Of Gems

3yo filly (Siyouni x Aigue Marine)

She is a half-sister to Fénelon and is my only Classic entry. She is entered in a Chantilly maiden this week and that will tell us quite a bit on her first turf start. She was third on debut on the polytrack:

She is a lovely big filly with scope and a great pedigree – you can get lucky without pedigree, such as with French Fifteen, Stormy River and Vespone, but it’s always better when you have a page and are by Siyouni!

 

Wildwood

4yo mare (Maxios x Walayta)

She won a Quinte handicap impressively last month and we may supplement her for the Listed Prix Zarkava at ParisLongchamp on Sunday 10 April.

Wildwood is only rated 42.0 but has race fitness on her side, so I hope she might be able to grab some black type. She might then go for another Listed race at Baden-Baden in May.

 

Rimbault

3yo colt (Zoffany x Rock My World)

He is useful and ran fourth in a Fontainebleau maiden and might run this Thursday at Deauville. Remember that he is a May foal, so I think there will be some good days ahead for Rimbault.

He ran once as a juvenile at Saint-Cloud but he was on the wrong side of the track and was very green that day, finishing third:

 

Sunray

3yo filly (Dawn Approach x Snake Dancer)

Another English-owned horse, this time by Catherine Wills and is one I like. She is a nice type by New Approach and is a half-sister to the 2011 Poule D’Essai Des Poulains third Venomous, out of a useful mare that won three for me back in 2006.  She is a sweet filly but as usual she will take a bit of time to get going.

 

Lazy

4yo gelding (Siyouni x Larella)

He is another with English owners, Charles and Zorka Wentworth. He won his only start and is another that I like.

 

Midnight Fever

3yo filly (Shalaa x Fregate First)

She made a nice start to her career last December at Deauville, running second to La Parisienne (who runs in a Classe 1 at Saint-Cloud today). She is still a bit woolly in her coat and although she is entered at Lyon this week, I will see if we wait another week or two to start off her three-year-old season. She is owned by a nice English syndicate called Detroit Thoroughbreds, run by Sam Sangster and Stuart Boman, and I hope she will do well for them.

 

Sea Urchin

2yo colt (Seahenge x Lady of Light)

Sea Urchin is a nice colt by Seahenge and is own by an Englishman, Raymond Tooth. At this stage he seems the most forward of my bunch of juveniles and he’s exciting.