The few rays of sunshine that bathed the Auteuil track this Saturday were deceptive. It was on heavy ground (4.7) that the eight competitors of the Prix Richard and Robert Hennessy (Gr. III), the first preparatory event for the Prix La Haye Jousselin on November 17, set off. The (racing) conditions could therefore not be put forward as an excuse by the beaten ones, the (physical) condition perhaps a little more. Gold Tweet, Amy du Kiff, Gypsy Jazz et Youtwo Glass were not yet in their best form. But would that have been enough to allow them to threaten He is French ? Hard to believe it. The protégé of Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm has bounced back after his defeat in the Prix Murat in April. A little freshness, a little training and a race in his hand, it doesn’t take much for the son of Karaktar transforms into a war machine. “He hasn’t had a special program compared to my other horses, but he has transformed over the last two or three weeks”reveals Noel George. It was felt on the track and this time there was no question of running it unnatural. James Reveley quickly took the race into his own hands by setting the uncompromising pace which suits so well He is French. “I was afraid of going a little fast in this terrain, confides the jockey. But he is a crack player and he showed that he was able to maintain this pace and even accelerate further in the final phase.” Striking in his way of swallowing the obstacles, gaining lengths with each jump, the horse however made a small blunder on the big open ditch where he took his momentum well upstream. “He accelerated on his own, because he likes to jump, says James Reveley. But it put us on the wrong track. I tried to correct him to get over the obstacle, but he slipped a little at that point. Without consequences fortunately.” It was the only cold sweat thatHe is French passed behind the backs of those around him, because what followed was only mastery and control. Toscana du Berlais, who carried three kilos less and already had a race in his legs, hung on for a long time, but did not really have any illusions for anything other than the first runner-up he obtained.
Two more races on the program
Proud to have found the exciting winner of the Star Novices’Chase (gr. I) at the end of last year, Noel George draws up his champion’s program for these last few months: “We will go directly to the Prix La Haye Jousselin before competing in the King George, there will be nothing else, neither before nor between the two events, because the horse likes to run fresh. He likes to lead and toughen up the race, but then you just have to let him recover between two outings. When it’s like it is now, frankly I don’t have much to do.” Just noticing the gap that separates He is French of his adversaries.
Green Diamond, good third
The brother of Blue Diamond, winner of the Prix de Compiègne an hour earlier, brought satisfaction to Dominique Bressou by taking third place in a very well composed event. The coach, however, remained very lucid about the current potential of his resident, as he explained to our reporter Sacha Rochereau: “Green Diamond runs well. He may not have the size of such a lot. The problem with horses like him is that it will now be difficult to find easy races for them. Against the best, he will be fifth or sixth, while with handicaps he will carry a lot of weight. The Georges Courtois Prize is a possibility.”
