ENGLISH TEXTS tests him hence why he was not as good a steeplechaser. He will be looking for a fourth win the race and he’ s looked better and more dominate then ever by winning his two starts so far on the 10 th and the 24 th of December. At the time of writing this there has been eleven cross country races not including the Anglo arab races. Clayeux has won 6 of them and had a second and a third in one other. With six more to go it’ s easy to see him winning at least two more including the grand cross as not only will he have the favorite, but he will have the 2 nd favorite too with Kouroukoukou. This horse had built up a reputation from last year winning his final cross country in fine style when you could tell he had finally understood the game. He was another one who was an average steeplechaser but improved greatly for the twist and turns at Pau. He was beaten on his seasonal debut to Hip hop Conti and Saint Godefroy which you can easily forgive as they are both champions and since then he’ s come out and won his next two starts. One over 4,100m beating another Clayeux horse Thequiteman into 2 nd and then on his first start at 5,000m in the Trophee national du cross he flourished to beat Saint Godefroy by four lengths and another stable inmate called Jack Lux in third a further eight lengths behind the second. This was his announcement to the racing world that he is a serious contender to Hip
Hop Conti crown and will surely make Pau his kingdom in the years to come. Clayeux has had two other winners in Pau with Jack Lux and Kahid de Fregrande. Jack Lux then stepped up in grade to finish third to Kouroukoukou and we could see him take his chance in the grand cross. For me I feel like he’ s a horse that could go and do well in the more provincial grande cross’ s starting with Lignieres and then possibly stepping up into more crystal cup races like Fontainebleau and maybe even take his chance at Le Lion. The same goes for Kahid de Fregrande, although she looks like a filly with a lot of speed and will be more suited to the more technical cross countries over shorter trips. Clayeux team for cross country horses also involves two that probably won’ t be seen at Pau but will be targeting crystal cup events throughout the year and trying to win the race that he got so close to winning years ago with Urgent de Gregaine, the Velka Pardubicka. Ilbao who was third in the grande cross de Craon behind Roi mage and sweet David returned with a 6 th at Pau which was very respectable for a first effort on a track that you could argue would not suit a tall horse like him. His long-term target you would imagine would be Craon again and then may take a trip to Czech Republic for a shot at the Velka Pardubicka. Irundo is another one who came back from an injury with a win at Lyon back in
November. For a horse of this ability, he could turn up anywhere from Cheltenham to Fontainebleau or take on the stamina sapping challenge that is the Loire Anjou. Again, Irundo could join Ilbao and make it a double assault from team Clayeux on the Velka Pardubicka. I find it exciting and impressive to see a team target and quite frankly dominate a discipline at one racecourse. The prize money on offer means the horse can have a long-prolonged break after the meeting before making a slow return to training and arrive at the meeting fresh and well, so they can run three to five time over the course of eight weeks and try and win as much money as possible. Take Hip Hop Conti who is an exceptional circumstance but having ran three times at pau last year he won two and was second once and won 73,000 euros before finishing his winter season by winning 23,000 euros at Lignieres. His two wins this year have given him 40,000 euros. When you assume a horses training bill for a year is 20-25 thousand euros, he is proof that you can cover horses yearly keep with a successful stint at Pau. All eyes will be on the 8 th of February when Hip Hop Conti, James Reveley and Emmanuel Clayeux will look to make history by winning the Listed grand cross de Pau for the fourth time in a row and I for one cannot wait.
BACK TO ARTICLE
161 # 16