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Captain's Blog - Tuesday 18th September

Not everybody was that impressed with Orfevre in the Prix Foy on Sunday at Longchamp. What was there in that performance that you could not like? He travelled well, settled beautifully, quickened sharply and won easily from a very useful horse in Meandre.

Christophe Soumillon was on board and he is an all-action jockey, but even he had to do little to secure victory. This win meant that Orfevre has won 8 of his 13 starts now and if you get a chance to review some of those wins you will be really impressed.

The one thing that marks this horse out as a a champion is the sharp turn of pace that he has and he also stays a mile and a half very well. He also has top-class wins on fast and easy ground. I think he is worth supporting for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and whilst I see Danedream as a massive threat she will have her work cut out against the Japanese wonder horse. He is currently trading at 9/2 with at least one firm and that will surely get shorter as the impact of what he actually did on Sunday sinks in.

The official handicapper believes that Camelot ran below form in the Leger. I agree but that effort may have been the best he can do at the trip. If you look at his previous performance over lesser trips yes he was below form in the Leger, but if he was below form because the distance stretched his ability and that may be as good as he is under the circumstances that he faced on Saturday. If Usain Bolt was beaten over 800 metres some would inevitably say that he was below form, the truth would be that he had no chance of showing his form given how far he was racing. The same applies to Camelot.

My selection today is Empowerment in the 4.30 at Folkestone. This horse has been gradually improving and the form of his third place last time looks solid.

I hope you have a good day.

Today's Selection

4.20 Folkestone - Empowerment

Ante-post selection:

Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe - Orfevre (9/2)