Len Dances to French Victories

The best laid plans of mice and men oft’ go awry, so when we sent Itsatenfromlen to Chantilly on Qatar Prix du Jockey Club day it was literally a spur of the moment decision.  Having looked at the small field of entries for the Prix d’Orgemont, a race for unraced two year olds, we quickly decided to throw him into the mix as a supplementary entry as we were already taking Convo for the Prix Le Fleche. 

We were lucky enough to secure the services of Tom Marquand for his first run in France and a stands side draw of stall one.  Jumping smartly, Tom was able to dictate the pace with Sam Pressao for company.  By the three furlong marker, Len had seen of his companion and found himself with a healthy two length advantage. There were signs of greenness as Tom urged him forwarded but he galloped all the way to the line to score by a neck and scooped just under a massive £21,000 for first prize.

Itsatenforlen is a horse we have always liked, and he was sent to us at the beginning of April by Noel Quinlan on behalf of his part owner Wayne Asquith.  Noel and Wayne pinhooked the horse from the Tattersalls December Foal Sale back in 2022.  The plan was to send him to a Breeze Up Sale but unfortunately, he returned unsold and was subsequently put in training at Southgate Stables.

Twenty four days later, Len made the return journey to Chantilly under similar circumstances.  Once again, the Prix de la Croix des Veneurs provided a small field with only nine initial entries, of which, two were forfeited, two were not declared and eventually one being a non runner.  Drawn four of five, he broke smartly again with Mickael Barzalona on board.  This time, his was able to sit just on the girths of the pace setter La Samana who set fractions of 13s and then 11s over the first four furlongs.  Quickening from two out, Len hit a top speed of 67.3kph or 42mph to put the race to bed with Mickael riding hands and heels for the last half furlong.

With just shy of another £15,000 in the purse, Len’s career earnings for just two races stands at a healthy £36,000 which, again, makes you wonder why we cannot adapt here in the UK to make the sport more financially viable to either retain owners or attract new ones.

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