Laurent Barbarin

Published 16:35 - 04/03

The turf season kicks off in style this Thursday at Saint-Cloud with a nine-race card featuring a Listed contest and a total of 131 horses in action on the day - live on Sky Sports Racing.

Race 1 at 12:55 is the big handicap of the day, the Prix Teddy, a sixteen-runner contest for four-year-olds and upwards over 7f.

This contest is as open as it gets, but I like the profile of KRASKHOV, a son of Goken, who was a real eyecatching finisher on his latest start when fourth in this division at Deauville on 30 January over 6.5f on the all-weather track.

The four-year-old trained by Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez progressed nicely through 2025, winning a maiden in June at Lyon-Parilly over a mile, while also landing a 7f handicap on the Chantilly all-weather on 27 October, which was his final run of the year.

He was very impressive last time when resuming after three months off and, although he has yet to be tried on the very testing at Saint-Cloud turf course, I’m not too concerned given he is a son of Goken.

Confirmed over the distance, he has a taking and still unexposed profile, and will benefit from the mount of Christophe Soumillon. Drawn in stall 1, he should enjoy a perfect run along the rail, on a brand-new strip of ground, to hopefully secure a good early position behind the leaders – as was the case when last seen scoring at Chantilly.

The race is very open and the pair will need a clear trip to win, but with the in-form Soumillon on board and an expected solid pace, he should be able to go very close. He should jump off at around 4/1, which seems a very appealing price.

The Listed Prix Altipan at 14:34 has attracted a field of seven runners, and while Silius is expected to start favourite in the French betting, I would rather side with FAST TRACKER, a five-year-old gelding formerly trained in France by Henri-Alex Pantall and now in the care of Ed Walker.

Although this son of Churchill has not been seen since 12 October 2024, he has been supplemented for this race, which immediately makes him a most intriguing contender.

A Listed winner in the spring of 2024, he went into the Prix du Jockey-Club as a warm favourite at around 5/2 but could only finish 13th of 14 runners. Prior to that, he won three in a row: a 7.5f maiden at Cagnes-sur-Mer, a Class 2 over a mile and a quarter at Saint-Cloud on very heavy ground, and a Listed contest at Chantilly.

After a summer break, he returned in a Group 3 at ParisLongchamp on 8 September, finishing fifth of seven in a race won by Ombudsman, before absolutely hacking up on his next and final start in a 9f Listed at Chantilly, run on heavy ground.

This lad is a course winner, clearly thrives on testing conditions, and looks to have been well prepared for this comeback. Now gelded, he makes the trip from the UK for a reason, and his connections must feel he is fit enough to do himself justice.

One of the most promising horses of the Classic generation in France in 2024, the hope is he has retained all of his ability. The answer will come this afternoon. 

My next column will on Saturday 7th March for action from Lignières and Auteuil, two meetings shown live on Sky Sports racing.