Tag: French Classics

When The Going Gets Soft For Poules Day In Paris

   As it was at Newmarket, ParisLongchamp's ground is going to take some getting through for the protagonists in Sunday's G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains and G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and it is safe to say that appreciation of give underfoot is essential.

That applies to several of the star colts and fillies lining up for the first domestic Classics and it is certain to be no worse than the testing going that Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) had to deal with at Newbury last time. Leading home the riderless Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in his last race in the Sangster silks in the seven-furlong G3 Greenham S., Wathnan Racing's acquisition was adding to his fast-ground G2 Superlative S. success as a juvenile, so versatility is assured.

Brian Meehan has spent a while in the Classic wilderness and this is a key moment for the Manton-based trainer who last enjoyed Group 1 success 11 years ago. “He has been working great,” he said. “The Guineas was a nice form boost in a funny sort of way. I know they are saying it will be heavy ground, but it doesn't really matter what sort of ground we get–we are going to get whatever we get. The thing is, he is there on good-to-firm and soft, so we'll take our chance.”

Flying The Flag

France's defence of the Poulains may rest with Malcolm Parrish's American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who beat the re-opposing Kendly (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) in convincing fashion in the Listed Prix Omnium II at Saint-Cloud in March before following up in the course-and-distance G3 Prix de Fontainebleau last month. That form has taken a knock subsequently and there is no telling at the moment how good Yann Barberot's stable star is. “The horse is in great shape,” his trainer said. “He appreciates the very soft terrain and he has a very good mentality. He knows Longchamp and I am confident for Sunday.”

Good Knight?

Trailing Isaac Shelby in the Greenham, KHK Racing's TDN Rising Star Knight (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) has to rebound with the form of his G3 Horris Hill S. now also looking to have more holes in it than at the start of the season. Whether the deep promise of his Yarmouth debut can be fulfilled is the burning question for Simon and Ed Crisford. “I don't know what happened at Newbury to be honest, but the horse has bounced out of the Greenham,” Ed Crisford said. “He just didn't go a yard and there's nothing much to say about that other than it was very disappointing. He seems to have come alive and come on for that race, so he's going to France and hopefully he can run a big race albeit he has to prove it now.”

Anybody's Guess

On the face of it, Hisaaki Saito's Good Guess (GB) (Kodiac {GB})) has something to find even allowing for his G3 Prix Djebel success from TDN Rising Star Breizh Sky (Fr) (Pedro The Great) and Fabrice Chappet would not have been heartened by the draw in eight. What effect that post position will have this year, with only 10 runners, remains to be seen and Breizh Sky is even wider in the outside stall. Alain Jathiere's colour-bearer is beginning to look a habitual “nearly horse” and he needs a strong pace to run at, which is not guaranteed here.

Trainer Alessandro Botti is clinging on to hope that things will fall right for Breizh Sky at some point. “The forecast very soft ground shouldn't be a problem for him, as he finished third in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere when there was plenty of give,” he said. “His comeback effort in the Prix Djebel was quite good, but the race was devoid of pace and things panned out perfectly for Good Guess.”

An Unfolding Story

When Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) encountered Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) in the course-and-distance G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, it was Yeguada Centurion SL's homebred who held the bragging rights but there was something in the seasonal return of Ballydoyle's blueblood that suggested it would be a lot closer as they re-engage in the Pouliches. Overwhelming the subsequent 1000 Guineas third Matilda Picotte (Ire) (Sioux Nation) and G3 Cournelsourt S. scorer Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) in Leopardstown's G3 Ballylinch Stud 1000 Guineas Trial S., the descendant of Urban Sea (Miswaki) will be a different proposition for Christopher Head's stable luminary to handle this time.

Looking Out For Lindy

Surrendering her unbeaten record to Blue Rose Cen in the G3 Prix de la Grotte over this course and distance last month, Everest Racing, Ecurie Waldeck and Meridian International's Lindy (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) hails from a family of soft-ground lovers and trainer Christophe Ferland is keen to have another go at the favourite. “Since her debut, Lindy has done nothing but improve,” he said. “She had a good winter and her comeback effort in the Prix de la Grotte was very good. She is very easy to handle and I harbour no worries about her ability to act over course and distance. She is a daughter of Le Havre and so I don't feel that the ground will be a hindrance to her. Depending on how she fares on Sunday, I hope to run her in the Prix de Diane. I have even entered her in the Arc, because I think that in time and given greater maturity that longer trips will be within her compass.”

Can Kelina Rebound?

It seems a long time ago that the Wertheimers' TDN Rising Star Kelina (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was favourite for the Marcel Boussac and although she was last in that contest put up a fine comeback effort behind Quickstep (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the course-and-distance Prix du Louvre conditions race last month. From the family of Dansili's Group 1 winners With You (GB) and We Are (Ire) and Frankel's Call The Wind (GB), the Carlos Laffon-Parias-trained homebred will be staying on when some have cried enough.

Jannah Rose Poised For Saint-Alary Test

Frankel might already have had a big afternoon by the time the G1 St Mark's Basilica Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary comes around, where his unbeaten daughter Jannah Rose (Ire) will be a warm order to build on her quietly-dominant display in the nine-furlong G3 Prix Vanteaux here last month. Al Shira'aa Farms' €650,000 Goffs Orby sensation is developing a formidable reputation which will be put to the test here by some talented fillies including Ballydoyle's Boogie Woogie (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). A daughter of the Irish Oaks heroine Seventh Heaven (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), she came up against the stable's kingpin Savethelastdance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Leopardstown two starts back when the pick of Ryan Moore which gives an indication as to the regard in which she is held. There will be some surprised people if Elusive Princess (Fr) (Martinborough {Jpn}) can't reverse the form of the G3 Prix Cleopatre with Crown Princesse (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), with LNJ Foxwoods purchasing a half-share in the former after her luckless run. Both have been supplemented, but both have to raise their game to reward that decision.

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Game On In Paris

Given how powerful Ballydoyle has become since the late 1990s, it is perhaps surprising that Aidan O'Brien has pulled off the English-French-Irish 2000 Guineas treble only once with the duo Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) and Landseer (GB) sharing the spoils between them in 2002. No other stable has made inroads into this unique annexation of the three major colts' mile Classics, but 20 years later Charlie Appleby stands on the brink after Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) provided him with a breakthrough first Newmarket Classic at the end of last month. If Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) prevails in ParisLongchamp's G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains on Sunday, the achievement is well and truly in reach for Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) to complete in Saturday's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas. Interestingly, in 2002 O'Brien also had the one-two in the 2000 Guineas so there is direct recent historical precedent.

Coming to the fore with wins in Newmarket's G3 Tattersalls S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, with the latter contest marred by his bizarre scratching and reintroduction to the field, Modern Games has vital experience of travelling overseas and the hustle-and-bustle of a top international prize. “Modern Games has done well from two to three and I can't fault his preparation,” his trainer said of the likely favourite who occupies the box of one of Dubawi's best in Ghaiyyath (Ire). “We are very happy with his draw in stall four and there should be no excuses.”

 

In Pole Position

Monaco's Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc needs no introduction and the Ferrari pilot has a small stake in Riviera Equine SARL and Haras d'Etreham's 'TDN Rising Star' Lassaut (Fr) (Almanzor {Fr}). He beat the re-opposing Tribalist (GB) (Farhh {GB}) over this trip at Chantilly Mar. 9 and in the course-and-distance Prix Machado Apr. 21 and appeals as the ideal type of Jean-Claude Rouget improver which tends to enter the mix in this Classic. Rouget also has Al Shaqab Racing's Apr. 17 G3 Prix de Fontainebleau winner Welwal (GB) (Shalaa {Ire}), who beat several of these in that course-and-distance trial which has been boosted by the subsequent G3 Prix de Guiche success of the stable's fifth-placed Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}).

 

Not Forgetting Fabre

André Fabre has trained a modern-day record eight winners of the Poulains and while his sixth in the Fontainebleau represented a dip in form, Ancient Rome (War Front) was one of the country's leading juveniles for Coolmore and Westerberg. Having beaten Scherzo (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G3 Prix des Chenes here in September, the relative of Pour Moi (Ire) was third over an inadequate seven in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere here and second in the G1 Criterium International when the testing ground at Saint-Cloud had turned on him. The same ownership have a second string to their bow in Ballydoyle's The Acropolis (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), who upped his game on his 3-year-old bow with a second in the seven-furlong Listed Ballylinch Stud 2000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown Apr. 2. “Maybe he has just come to himself now, so he is worth chancing in this higher grade with the step up to a mile expected to suit,” The Acropolis's jockey Ryan Moore mused.

 

Osmose A Live Longshot

With 'TDN Rising Star' Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) to aim at in the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, the task is to deny the home-trained contingent which has proven difficult of late. Since 2002, only one overseas raider has pulled it off in this Classic which tends to spring up a surprise more often that not. SPs of 38-1, 12-1, 33-1 and 14-1 have been returned in four of the last eight runnings, with only two favourites prevailing in that time. Two of the outsiders hailed from the Rouget stable and he supplies a pair of them here in 'TDN Rising Star' Osmose (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Zelda (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}). Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani's Osmose looked in need of this mile when fourth in the G3 Prix Imprudence at Deauville Apr. 7 and the owner-breeder's racing manager Bertrand Le Métayer is in positive mood. “Osmose is giving very good vibes in her work,” he said. “She is very calm, placid and has a really good mind-set. We can't wait to see her run on good ground and, above all, in a race with pace!”

 

Pacaut And Doyle Take Aim

Zelda, who took the seven-furlong Listed Prix Saraca at Chantilly in October, carries the silks of the famed basketball player Tony Parker's Infinity Nine Horses. She will be ridden by Coralie Pacaut, the recipient of the 'Cravache d'Or' in 2019, who joins Hollie Doyle in a line-up which demonstrates the growing influence of female jockeys. Doyle is on the Harry and Roger Charlton-trained Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who carried the Rothschild colours to success in the Listed Radley S. at Newbury in October and who was second in the G3 Fred Darling S. on her return at Newbury Apr. 16. Roger Charlton is looking forward to the step up to a mile for the homebred. “She made good headway at Newbury and I guess she is bred to appreciate an extra furlong, so I hope she settles and I think, although she won on very soft ground at Newbury last season, she is a good-moving filly and on the expected quick ground she should be okay,” he said.

 

Blink And You'll Miss It

At Naas, sprinting is the name of the game on the track's Royal Ascot Trials Day, with the six-furlong G3 Coolmore Stud EBF Fillies Sprint S. attracting seven juvenile fillies headed by Ballydoyle's Apr. 10 Curragh maiden scorer Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never). The Kieran Cotter-trained Matilda Picotte (Ire) (Sioux Nation) takes her on along with Jim Bolger's Comhra (Ire) (Vocalised), who she beat at the Curragh May 2 before Comhra went one better at Roscommon on Monday. In the G3 Goffs Lacken S., Commonwealth Cup prospects square up with the Beauty Stable Partnership's G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) tackling the Apr. 23 Listed Committed S. one-two New York City (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Straight Answer (GB) (Kodiac {GB}).

 

Jet's Back

Also in the Lacken is Michael and Julia Iavarone and Michael O'Callaghan's G3 Cornwallis S. winner Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}), who was last seen finishing 10th in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. “He always had a bit of size and a good mind. He's matured a lot over the winter, both mentally and physically, and he's a fine belter of a horse now,” O'Callaghan said. “His mind is very good and I expect it will be a long year for him, with Royal Ascot his first major target.”

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