Shalanaya

Shalanaya ran a cracker to finish second to the top class Cutlass Bay in the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on Sunday. They went no gallop in the early stages, and Christophe Lemaire allowed Shalanaya stride on from the rear, around her field to take it up after about three furlongs. She led into the home straight, travelling well, as the others came off the bridle, but just couldn’t repel Cutlass Bay’s challenge. It was an unsatisfactory race, because of the sedate early gallop, but there was a lot to like about Shalanaya’s performance, especially since she wouldn’t have been suited by the slow gallop or by having to make her own running. She wasn’t given a hard time of it, and the fact that Lemaire threw his whip over the rail 150 yards out didn’t help, but she still kept galloping all the way to the line. Winner of the Prix de l’Opera last October, when she caused something of a surprise, you can easily excuse her her subsequent run in Kyoto, when she didn’t actually fare that badly, finishing fourth, on typically lightning fast ground in Japan.

She has raced just seven times in her life, she is still progressive, and she is an exciting prospect for the season ahead. She will be of big interest in any of the top middle distance races for fillies, and she would also be of interest if she took up her engagement in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

2nd May 2010