Here at Sports Preview, we pay attention to detail, and we give as much focus to a maiden hurdle on a wet Wednesday at Clonmel as we do to a Group 1 at Ascot. With that in mind we will be publishing a weekly review of the weekends action to highlight some exceptional performances that you may not have seen. Here are this week’s horses that went “under the radar”.
BAFFI – 3YO Maiden – Nimes 5th February – Finished 2nd
Jean-Claude Rouget has always looked to introduce his best 3-year-old prospects in the earlier part of the season and on paper BAFFI should be above average.
A son of Le Havre, he is a full sister to Group 2 winner Roman Candle out of the Listed/Group 3 placed mare Holy Dazzle. He was well backed on the local odds for this debut at Nimes, being sent off the 2.6 favourite on the PMH market. Having settled in mid-division in the early stages, he travelled nicely under Simon Planque but was left too much to do in the short straight and although he ran on nicely into 2nd, the winner had flown.
The time was 2s slower than the course average and so it was always asking a lot for Baffi to close on a winner who had been able to dictate the fractions in front. He kept on nicely and with a more prominent ride, should find a maiden in the next few weeks.
