THE HIGHLIGHT ruined a few multiples inside the first hour of Prix Maurice de Gheest day, taking the 13:56 Prix Osaf (Prix de Tour-en-Bessin) at Deauville by a short neck at around 8/1 on the PMU – with Andre Fabre’s odds-on Zen Poetry touched off in second.
| Pos | Horse | Jockey | SP (PMU) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Highlight | Cristian Demuro | 8/1 |
| 2 | Zen Poetry | Pierre-Charles Boudot | 4/7f |
| 3 | Zakkan | Mickael Barzalona | 3/1 |
| 4 | Prince Azur | M. Grandin | 42/1 |
The Race Story
Seven juvenile colts and geldings went to post for the opening conditions race over Deauville’s straight 1,400 metres, and the market said it was a two-horse affair: Zen Poetry, the Fabre-trained hotpot, backed down to 4/7, with Francis-Henri Graffard’s Zakkan next best at 3/1. The Highlight, from the Pierrick Cottier yard, was allowed to drift out to a working man’s 8/1.
Money talks, but it doesn’t always finish first. In a tight finish on the straight course, Demuro got The Highlight’s head down where it mattered, holding Boudot and Zen Poetry by a short neck in a time of 1m 26.5s, with Zakkan only a neck away third – a blanket over the first three. Prince Azur, a 42/1 shot, ran a fine race in fourth, a length and a quarter back.
For punters who took the short price about Zen Poetry, that is the worst kind of losing bet – beaten inches, stakes gone. The each-way brigade at least had nothing to argue about: with seven runners, the places went two deep and the favourite filled one of them.
Tipster Accountability
No damage done to the ledger here. None of the ten tracked names in our tipster bankroll table had a bet in this race – the roster’s columns are focused on the British and Irish cards today. Our own morning Deauville preview called this one “watch rather than wager” – and with the odds-on favourite turned over, keeping the powder dry was the right call.
Looking Ahead
The serious business at Deauville starts at 15:15 CEST with the Grand Handicap de Deauville, the day’s Quinté+ betting heat, where a maximum field of 20 tackle the straight 1,600 metres for €96,000. Olympic Message is the informed word locally for the in-form Nicolas Perret yard, stablemate Un Instant and Christophe Soumillon’s mount Calas are prominent in the betting, and Ian Williams sends the British raider Supido for Mickael Barzalona – the interesting cross-Channel angle. The Group action then begins with the Prix Daphnis at 16:05 ahead of the big one, the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, at 16:40 CEST. Saturday’s meeting here saw Mazzala spring a 10/1 surprise in the Prix de Reux – the Normandy track owes nobody a favour this weekend.
