French racing tips: Scott Burton has two selections to follow at Clairefontaine

Via Maresca
2.15 Clairefontaine
1pt win

Bal Express
5.45 Clairefontaine
1pt win

The Prix Boulonnais (5.45) seems to offer a classic match between the two major training powers in French jump racing, with Francois Nicolle and Guillaume Macaire represented by two nascent chasers with the best hurdles ratings in High King and Sa Carlex.

Both have one run to their name over the bigger obstacles, with High King having shown he ought to handle nipping around Clairefontaine when sticking to the rail in winning at Toulouse.

Sa Carlex ran well until the closing stages of her chase debut at Fontainebleau before appearing to blow up between the final two fences.

While she can be expected to progress the form has hardly been boosted by the first and second.

The two big names are likely to take a sizeable chunk of the win money but it may well be worth having a look at the Arnauld Chaille-Chaille-trained Bal Express.

His chase debut was in a better race than either High King or Sa Carlex and for much of that run at Auteuil Bal Express looked the best horse, making only one jumping error in an otherwise very pleasing effort behind the Macaire-trained Galant Du Chenet.

His build is more athletic than monumental, and if he gets into a rhythm on what will be a first start since November, there will be little margin for error for his rivals.

The big betting handicap on the Clairefontaine card is the Prix Trinidad (2.15) and it looks significant that Marcel Rolland pitches Via Maresca into first time handicap company despite a 7lb rise for an easy conditions race win on earlier in the month.

It is a tempting pot and Rolland must be confident there is still plenty of improvement in Via Maresca, since it seems inconceivable that such a seasoned trainer would have left nothing to work with in a much less valuable race last time.

If there is an improver to trouble her at slightly bigger odds then it might be Heaven's Night, who ran well in a decent race at Auteuil on her comeback and is reported to be thriving in the mornings.

But there isn't likely to be a big upside in her price compared to Via Maresca, who may yet prove better than a handicapper in time.

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