Statistic Of The Week of French Racing News - 7th October 2021.
The Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte is a Group Two flat race open to two-year-old's, run over 1200m. This contest is now staged at Chantilly after the closure of Maisons-Laffitte in October 2019. From 1914-1919 the event was not run and this was also the case in 1939, 1940 and 1948.
It was awarded Group Two status in 1971. Since 2001, twelve winners have been trained outside of France, nine from the UK and Ireland, two from Germany and one from Italy. Fillies are in receipt of a 1.5kg sex allowance.
A key trend has emerged during the past decade. Seven of the last ten winners (highlighted in yellow) have won over the 1200m distance at a high level prior to scoring in this contest, either with a Listed or Group-race victory. The table below indicates the importance of proven winning form meeting these criteria:
Surprisingly, out of the entries for the event only three horses have won at Listed or Group level over 1200m. Firstly, Ebro River (Galileo Gold), who would have to be a doubtful runner after a down the field run in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1400m) at Longchamp last week. The other two are: Have A Good Day (Adaay), successful in the G3 Prix de Cabourg (1200m) three starts ago and Eve Lodge (Ardad), a winner on penultimate outing in the G3 Sirenia Stakes (1200m) at Kempton Park (UK).
