DEAUVILLE, 8 August — Mazzala sprang the surprise of the early afternoon on the Normandy coast, powering home a length and a quarter clear in the Group 3 Prix de Reux (12:58) as Uthred — a 2/1 market leader this morning — trailed home last of the six runners.
The Result
| Pos | Horse | Jockey | Odds (PMU) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mazzala | Alexis Pouchin | 9.8/1 (€10.80) |
| 2nd | Parachutiste | Mickael Barzalona | ~7/2 |
| 3rd | Tenability | Pierre-Charles Boudot | ~13/5 |
Margins: 1¼ lengths, head. Time: 2m 41.71s. Also ran: Presage Nocturne (4th), Oracle (5th), Uthred (6th).
The Race Story
The clue was in the conditions. Mazzala was the only three-year-old in the field, and over 2,500 metres of soft, stamina-sapping Deauville turf, the weight-for-age allowance proved decisive. Yann Barberot’s colt travelled sweetly for Alexis Pouchin and quickened past his elders inside the final quarter-mile, holding Parachutiste comfortably at the line. The winner returned €10.80 for €1 on the pari-mutuel — just shy of 10/1, a price the French pools had not taken seriously enough.
Francis-Henri Graffard’s Parachutiste ran his race, staying on to take second with William Haggas’s British raider Tenability a head away third, but neither ever looked like reeling in the winner. The real drama was at the other end. Uthred, co-favourite at 2/1 in the morning lists, drifted alarmingly on course — out to double figures and beyond on the PMU — and the money knew. Antoine Madamet’s mount was beaten a long way out and came home ten lengths adrift of the fifth, Andre Fabre’s Oracle.
Tipster Accountability
Our own Deauville preview nominated Uthred as the verdict in this race — a clear miss, though it did name Parachutiste as “the danger”, and the runner-up duly obliged. One consolation: the preview’s warning that soft ground would put “a real premium on stamina” was exactly how the race played out.
None of the four tipsters we track — Templegate, Paul Kealy, Oddschecker or Andrew Asquith — had a selection in this race, so the bankroll table is untouched. Their Saturday business is at Ascot, Newmarket and Haydock, and the reckoning follows race by race this afternoon.
Looking Ahead
Next on the card was the Listed Prix de la Vallee d’Auge (13:33) for two-year-olds, the Franco-British clash of the day with five of the eight runners trained in Britain and Drazinda a 13/8 morning favourite for Mickael Barzalona — our result and reaction will follow shortly. Later, note that Cosmo Beau remains a non-runner in the 14:15 Prix de Bayeux Handicap, where a high draw is historically favoured.
