Fast Raaj entered the reckoning for Finals Day with a dominant success in the Prix Anabaa at Chantilly yesterday afternoon, a Fast-Track Qualifier for the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championships.
Last year’s G3 Prix Djebel victor, representing Yann Barberot, formed part of a classy line-up for the extended six-furlong contest that also included fellow G3 winners Berneuil and Go Athletico.
Having raced in fourth of the seven runners, Fast Raaj angled out to deliver his challenge at the two-furlong pole and, once asked by Gregory Benoist, quickened smartly to put the race to bed entering the final furlong.
The four-year-old came home a length and a half in front of the running-on Go Athletico, with front-runner Baileys Blues three parts of a length further back in third and 6/4 favourite Berneuil fourth.
Fast Raaj has now won three of his four starts on the All-Weather and will attempt to emulate City Light, who completed the Prix Anabaa-Betway All-Weather Sprint Championships double in 2018.
Nicolas de Chambure, whose Haras d’Etreham part-bred and part-own the colt, said: “When Fast Raaj won the Prix Djebel last year, we were hoping that we could have a horse for the Classics.
“Then he had little injuries the whole time and was disappointing at Royal Ascot and in the Prix Jean Prat, so we stopped everything and treated him for a foot issue.
“He showed that he was happy to be a racehorse again when he won here in November and it was the same again today.
“We are very hopeful that he can be a Group horse and maybe a Group 1 horse if he can stay sound.
“Gregory said the horse was a lot more mature than last year and thinks he is a better horse. He won a Group 3 last year so let’s hope he can do better this year.”
Regarding the future, he added: “We felt travelling him this winter was going to be a little bit early with everything that happened last year.
“After his performance today, you almost start thinking that we should go to Dubai but he wasn’t entered.
“I think the sensible thing is to stay in Europe and we will go up to Newcastle next before hopefully finding a Group race on the grass over six or seven furlongs.”
