Traffic Fluide

There is a good chance that the performance that Traffic Fluide put up in finishing third behind Un De Sceaux and Sire De Grugy in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot last Saturday has been generally under-rated. A lot of the post-race attention was on Un De Sceaux, correctly so, but, as a result, Traffic Fluide’s performance may not have received due recognition.

This was Gary Moore’s horse’s seasonal debut, his first run since Aintree last April, and it was his first step into open company. Even so, he travelled  well at the back of the five-runner field and his jumping was really good. He travelled well into the home straight, and he made nice ground on the far side. He was never going to catch Un De Sceaux, but he closed on Sire De Grugy all the way to the line, and he would have finished second in another two strides. As it was, he was beaten just a short head by his stable companion for the runner-up spot, and he finished well clear of good horses Vibrato Valtat and Simply Ned. He was beaten a total of five lengths in a race that was run in a seriously good time, 0.17secs/furlong faster than Racing Post par.

Traffic Fluide is just six, and this was just his seventh run over fences, so he still has bundles of scope for further progression. Also, while he was fairly strong in the market on Saturday morning, he was very weak in the pre-race market. He was allowed drift out to 33/1 in the ring, and he was returned at 50 on Betfair. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that he looked like he would come on appreciably for the run. He should also appreciate better ground: his best two runs last year were at Sandown and Aintree, both times on good ground. As such, he is a lively outsider for the Champion Chase. Outside of Un De Sceaux, the race does not have great strength in-depth, and current odds of 16/1 may significantly under-estimate Traffic Fluide’s chance.

23^rd January 2016