The eyecather of the day is the Ready-Cash son Face Time Bourbon, the recent winner of the Prix de Selection (beating Davidson du Pont who gave 25 meters) in a spectacular time of 1’10’8. It’s speculated he might be the next Bold Eagle. To me, he reminds me more of Readly Express: calm, a stretched trot, mind for the game and can handle various situations in a race. To me these are very important characteristics to become the next ‘Bold’ or ‘Readly’. BUT in a lot of cases we see the driver is from high importance and with multiple horses we’ve seen they’re their absolute best when accompanied with Björn Goop, the best example to give here is ofcourse Timoko but also Readly Express is an excellent team with the Swedish drivee.
Goop is currently rehabilitating after an operation, he’s on the sidelines and will possibly return end of April. He’s scheduled to drive Bold Eagle in the Prix d’ Atlantique April 20th. Now Face Time Bourbon is looking for a temporary new driver I think Guarato has made a wise decision to give Eric Raffin the lines. Raffin has driven Face Time Bourbon once before (Watch here: https://www.letrot.com/fr/replay-courses/2018-08-11/7502/6 ) he drove a quite perfect race and stayed calm throughout it all, one of the qualities Goop and Raffin share. It’s quite hard ofcourse to compare drivers but Raffin seems to be a good match with Face Time Bourbon. In this race above Face Time Bourbon faced Falcao de Laurma which has been his biggest opponent so far in his career. Falcao de Laurma has a lot of speed at his disposal and has a real fighter head, in Prix de Tonnac-Villeneuve, Falcao de Laurma got his revenge and beat Face Time Bourbon. Two exciting horses with both an exciting future ahead of them.
To me, in Prix Phaeton (a race previously held over 2700m which changed to 2175m in 2018) Face Time Bourbon is the one to beat, with high interests in Falcao de Laurma to challenge him. Other horses that are important to keep an eye on in this race are
- Feliciano, a powerful horse that could scare or even beat the favourites. The fact that he’s quite unsteady and shifty in his performances makes it a scary case for me. Horse for on the tickets without a doubt.
- Fakir du Lorault, seems to prefer the short distances. Finished second behind Face Time Bourbon in Prix Charles Tiercelin, a race over 2100m and finished in 1’11’2, the same time as the winner. Quite consistent in his performances and has shown us he can race among the best of his generation.
- Fun Quick, This might be the upcoming talent of the year. Has been consistent his whole career and has shown tremendous potential in his past races. With a fine race which Nivard will surely give him it’s a probable first four finish.
Enjoy the races and I’ll get back to you soon!
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