2020 Prix de l'Abbaye Race card
Sometimes you can run out of superlatives to describe a horse and Battaash probably fits into that category considering that the six-year-old has reached the peak of his powers.
For the past two seasons, the Charles Hills-trained charge has been scoring victories left right and centre, with 2020 seeing Jim Crowley ride Battaash to triumphs at Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and the Ebor Festival.
There was a relatively comfortable win in the King’s Stand Stakes on 16 June where the horse fended off Equilateral by over two lengths, while next engagement was in the King George Qatar Stakes where there was a victory over Glass Slippers by a similar distance.
Most recently, the horse lined up in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes and pleased favourite backers by beating Que Amoro, with Battaash now heading to France and he’ll have a point to prove when arriving at Longchamp.
After all, great things were expected of the horse in last year’s Prix de l'Abbaye and the horse was sent off as the 9/10 favourite although it was a distinctly underwhelming performance and perhaps backers might tread carefully this time around.
We can probably put that run down to a number of mitigating factors and there is currently odds of 6/4 with William Hill that Battaash can add this Prix de l'Abbaye title to a growing list of victories.
Who Are the Big Dangers to Battaash in the Prix de l'Abbaye?
This is clearly not a one-horse race and Glass Slippers was the victor in last year’s renewal so there’s no reason why the horse can’t land consecutive successes at a track where he clearly performs so well.
The horse won twice at Longchamp towards the end of the previous flat season and the four-year-old clearly acts at this racecourse, although he’s only been seen twice this year and has yet to find a way into the winners’ enclosure.
Glass Slippers finished nearly six lengths behind Battaash at Royal Ascot and more recently finished second to the same horse in the Qatar Stakes. However, the runner-up got closer to the winner in that race and perhaps we’ll have a grandstand tussle all the way to the line.
The History of the Prix de l'Abbaye
This is one of the biggest French horse races and it was inaugurated in 1957, with the distance only being 1,000 metres or five furlongs. That means it’s a dash to the finish and a massive test of speed for all the runners, with a good start essential to any chance of victory.
Any horse aged two or older can compete in the Prix de l'Abbaye, although the winner tends to be older due to having more experience and conditioning for a race such as this one. Battaash has already won this race in 2017 and will be bidding to land victory for a second time along with Glass Slippers.
BET ONLY FOR FUN
