Recoletos
Recoletos was impressive in landing the Group 2 Prix du Muguet over 1m. Carlos Laffon-Parias' colt was settled in midfield early on by Olivier Peslier, fourth of the seven runners behind a good pace that his stable companion Oriental set. He travelled well in the middle of the well stretched-out field into the home straight, and he picked up well when his rider asked him to at the 2f pole. The Godolphin colt, favourite Jimmy Two Times, hit the front a furlong and a half out and struck for home, but Recoletos showed a smart turn of foot to get out after him, and it always looked like he would catch him. He did so with 110 metres to run, and he kept on powerfully all the way to the line to move almost 2l clear by the time he got there.
It was a fine performance by the Whipper colt. Jimmy Two Times won this race last year, and he had had a run this term already, while third-placed Taareef ran Ribchester to three parts of a length in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin last September, and he rounded off his season by winning the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein. Those two set a fair standard, and Recoletos beat them well.
Recoletos raced just once as a juvenile, but he was progressive last season as a three-year-old. Winner of the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe and third in the Prix du Jockey Club, he won a Group 3 contest at Maisons-Laffitte in September, and he finished fourth behind Cracksman, Poet's Word and Highland Reel in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on his final run last season. He was well beaten by Cracksman, but he was only beaten a total of a length and a quarter for the runner-up spot, and he had Jockey Club and French 2000 Guineas winner Brametot behind him.
This run was hugely encouraging, dropping down to a mile for the first time, and he could progress again now at four. He is entered in the Queen Anne Stakes and the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and either is a legitimate target. He looked very good here over a strongly-run mile. By Whipper, he will always be of interest when there is at least a little bit of cut in the ground.
Saint-Cloud, 1st May 2018
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