Hurricane blasted five rivals in the Listed Prix de la Californie over a mile on Polytrack on Sunday, February 14 at Cagnes-sur-Mer on the south coast of France and is being aimed at France's best races.
Trained by France's leading handler, Jean-Claude Rouget, and partnered by Ioritz Mendizabal, the three-year-old son of Hurricane Cat is now unbeaten in three starts after making his debut in December. His victories have all come on the All-Weather but is set to switch to racing on turf. He receives a free and automatic place in the £150,000 32Red All-Weather 3-Y-O Mile Championships Conditions Stakes on Polytrack at Lingfield Park on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, March 25, but is unlikely to take up the challenge. Hurricane was held up in fifth place before making smooth progress to go second with two furlongs remaining, led at the distance and went clear to win supremely easily. He beat Magnanime (Fabrice Chappet/Tony Piccone) by three lengths in 1m 34.12s after being sent off the 2/5 market leader. Jean-Claude Rouget commented: "Hurricane won very easily and he has lots of quality. "He is a gelding and so will not be able to run the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (the French Guineas) and instead we will look other Group One races over a mile after giving him a break."
