How Good Is Roger Varian's Race Horse Pierre Lapin?

Everybody in the racing game has been talking about one horse lately and rightly so. Pinatubo has brought excitement back into the game, even the hardened jump racing fans have come out in force to admire the brilliant Charlie Appleby 2-year-old. The big debate has been about Pinatubo and the mighty Frankel, I even wrote a post on it myself a few weeks back: Can Promising Colt Pinatubo Match The might of Frankel? Anyway, I think we have talked about this one enough so time to move on. 

The whole point of this post is a forgotten horse that could be useful. After looking at his debut victory and the significant entries he has received since I will be hoping Pierre Lapin takes his place in the Group 2 Duty-Free Mill Stakes on Saturday for trainer Roger Varian. 

Roger Varian has trained a few nice 2-year-olds over the years. In 2017 the Kylachy filly Altyn Orda won the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket at huge odds of 25/1 and in 2018 Roger Varian was toasting another Group success in the same race when Mot Juste beat Angels Hideaway in his last race of the season. 

This year hasn't been bad either with the impressive Daahyeh already looking a superstar in the making with two Group wins to her name. The Group 3 Albany Stakes was the first at Royal Ascot followed by the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket. If that wasn't enough she ran a great race at Curragh when just beaten by the smart Aidan O’Brien horse Love in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. 

Pierre Lapin was foaled on the 22nd of January 2017. The Cappella Sansevero bay colt was purchased for 140,000 gns for owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum in October 2018. Pierre Lapin must have been catching pigeons on the gallops because he was sent off favourite for his debut race at Haydock back in May. Pierre Lapin looked a shade inexperienced at the start and even jumped the path before staying on strongly to win by three and a half lengths. It was an impressive debut even though it wasn't the strongest race. I do wonder why trainer Roger Varian has kept him off the track for so long, was it to just strength up or did have some kind of problem? 

For whatever reason we haven't seen Pierre Lapin back on track I still think he could be one of Roger Varian's best 2-year-olds this season if not the best. How do I know? Because he was entered in quite a few significant races including the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes, the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien Stakes and many more group entries. As I said earlier he has an early entry in Saturdays Duty-Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury which could see him take on some top-class 2-year-olds including Richard Hannon's Mystery Power. Win or lose its intriguing to see why Roger Varian thinks so highly of Pierre Lapin. 

Thanks for reading and good luck.