Prix Nelcius preview: old sparring partners Rouget and Rohaut well represented

Prix Nelcius (Class 2) | 3yo | 1m

La Teste may be nestled on the Atlantic coast, an hour south of Bordeaux.

But the Prix Nelcius has an unmistakable air of the southwestern stronghold of Pau, home to both Francois Rohaut and Jean-Claude Rouget, who between them account for four of the seven runners.

Tamahere boasts the highest rating on show, thanks to her third place in the Listed Grand Criterium de Bordeaux behind Pao Alto, though Rohaut is quick to point out that she is not in the same class as the winner, a leading candidate for the Prix du Jockey Club.

Tamahere cut little ice on her return to action in the Listed Prix Rose de Mai, though she may have been inconvenienced by the late switch to the Deauville Polytrack owing to a waterlogged Saint-Cloud.

Stablemate Look Of Victory didn't make much of an impression on her seasonal reappearance in heavy ground and may be better judged on her final start at two, when the daughter of Charm Spirit split Daniyka and Galova.

Rouget fields Serkiyna and Rosmana, two fillies who both carry the colours of the Aga Khan.

Serkiyna broke her maiden at the fifth time of asking at Cagnes-sur-Mer in February and must carry 2lbs more than stablemate Rosmana, despite the France Galop handicapper assessing her 3lb inferior.

Christophe Ferland trains just across the road from the racecourse at La Teste and Project Fear might be better than the bare form of her distant sixth bhind the highly-rated Hilala on what was only her second start.

The Didier Guillemin-trained Oftenwork has finished runner-up at this level on his last two starts and is ridden by Lily Le Pemp in what is the highest class of race she can still claim the female allowance.

What connections say

Didier Guillemin, trainer of Oftenwork
He is a horse who ideally would want it softer than he will get here, perhaps even heavy. But he is in good form and Lily knows him very well so it made sense to keep the partnership intact.

Christophe Ferland, trainer of Project Fear
He's done quite well since his run at Deauville. This is a comeback so I will know a lot more about where we sit with him once I’ve seen him run.

Francois Rohaut, trainer of Tamahere and Look Of Victory
Obviously Pao Alto was much better than the rest of the field when Tamahere was third. She didn't run to form at Deauville on her first start of the year. It was a bit of a rough race and was in any case moved from Saint-Cloud to the all-weather. I consider this to be her proper comeback run and she has done well for the arrival of spring. Look Of Victory had a few things against her at Bordeaux. This should be a good learning experience for her as there are not too many runners. I hope she can show what she is capable of. For both of them this is not a true objective but I want to see them run well nonetheless.

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