Given that the average draw of the winner of this race in the last 10-years has been stall 4 and 9 of the 10 winners have been drawn in stall 6 or below, we have been anxious to wait before getting involved in this race. Hence our delight on Friday morning when Lassaut pulled trap 3. That’s the first part of the puzzle safely put together. Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and ridden by Cristian Demuro, this son of Almanzor only made his debut at Deauville in December but he has quickly developed into one of the leading 3-year-old prospects in France. A winner on his 2nd start at Chantilly in March, he stepped up the mile for the first time when winning the Class 1 Prix Machado over this course and distance in April, recording a 3/4 length success over Andre Fabre’s Tribalist.
In comparison to some of his rivals, he will need to improve again but after just 3 starts he is almost certainly capable of doing so. He ran the final 2 furlongs in 10.86s and 11.30s last time on ground officially described as Good to Soft and he looked to win with a lot in hand. Both he and Tribalist, who also takes his chance in the Poulains, were held up but it was the way Lassaut quickened to the front that gives me most hope he will be capable of making his mark in this company. Well drawn, he has many of the main protagonists around him, with Charlie Appleby Modern News in stall 4. From there he should be able to get into a decent position. He has already shown that he can handle the downhill bends at Paris Longchamp, which many of his rivals need to prove and that should give him a great chance on Sunday.
