Deauville offers a double act to savour on Sunday, with the G1 Darley Prix Morny and the G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet the latest in the catalogue of top-level contests to be staged at the Normandy venue. In the former, Al Shaqab Racing are represented by another of their star 2-year-olds in Armor (GB) (No Nay Never) who moves up to this six-furlong trip for the first time following his emphatic win in the G3 Molecomb S. on soft ground at Goodwood July 28. “Armor is in great form and it looks like there is some rain on the way which will help him,” Hannon said. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) comes back off a break after that June 16 Royal Ascot contest in the race that favours fillies with three of the last six winners from that sex. “She's in good shape and we're happy with her,” trainer Gavin Cromwell said. “The ground is good-to-soft and potentially could be good ground come Sunday. Either way it's fine. Stepping her back up to six furlongs shouldn't be a problem–it's an easy six in Deauville as well.”
Also successful at the Royal meeting, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) produced a rattle in the five-furlong G2 Norfolk S. June 17 and everything that could go wrong did when he subsequently finished just over a length behind Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) when fifth in the G2 Richmond S. at Goodwood July 29. Trainer Alan King said of the latter, “He's been very good since Goodwood and has arrived safely. He's obviously the quickest 2-year-old I've ever trained. The forecast looks quite encouraging–the better the ground, the better I think he'll be, so it's very exciting.”
Coolmore and Westerberg's recent acquisition Velocidad (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) looks to build on her success in the G2 Airlie Stud S. over this trip at The Curragh June 27, while those partners also have the Andre Fabre-trained Trident (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) who was third to Have a Good Day (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}) in the course-and-distance G3 Prix de Cabourg Aug. 3. Joseph O'Brien's crop of 2-year-old fillies include Saturday's G2 Debutante S. winner Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio) and he said, “Velocidad has been a brilliant filly so far, making a winning debut at Fairyhouse prior to winning the Airlie Stud S. at The Curragh last time. This looks a far stronger contest, but she has earned her shot at it and it will be interesting to see how she stacks up against the colts. It would be hard to be confident, given the size of the step up she is taking but hopefully she'll represent us well.”
In the Romanet, Emma Banks's sensation Lady Bowthorpe (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) bids for back-to-back Group 1s having conquered Goodwood's G1 Nassau S. over just shy of this 10-furlong trip July 29. Her 1 1/2-length defeat of the 3-year-old Zeyaadah (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) there was undermined by the runner-up's performance in Saturday's G2 Prix de la Nonette, but that was too bad to be true. “Everything is going according to plan and I'm very much looking forward to her running,” trainer William Jarvis commented. “She seems to have come out of her Goodwood run very well. It's a pretty strong renewal of the Prix Jean Romanet, so we're taking nothing for granted, but we're hopeful. Ever since she won the Dahlia S. I was keen for her to go to 10 furlongs, but the races didn't really present themselves. She has shown she gets the 10 furlongs very well and depending on how she gets on at Deauville, we could look at the Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp on Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe day.”
Fifth and disappointing in the Nassau, Alison Swinburn's Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) who first sprang to prominence when causing a 48-1 upset in this 12 months ago needs to bounce back from that momentum-stopping effort. She was James Fanshawe's third winner of this race which was inaugurated in 2004 and he is the leading trainer as a result, which is a remarkable statistic given his general lack of firepower compared to the major racing establishments. On her win in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland in November and return second in the G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot June 16, Audarya is at least on a par with Lady Bowthorpe and Fanshawe is expecting an improved display.
“She seems really well after Goodwood and nothing came to light after the race. I'm hopeful she can put that run behind her,” he said. “It's a tougher race than last year, but she seems in good form in herself.”
Shapoor Mistry's Thundering Nights (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) comes here on the back of a career-best success in The Curragh's G1 Pretty Polly S., where the subsequent GI Belmont Oaks and GI Beverly D. S. heroine Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and the re-opposing Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Insinuendo (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) filled the next three places in that June 27 highlight. There is no mistaking that is strong form, with the latter going on to take the G2 Kilboy Estate S. also at The Curragh July 18. “Thundering Nights has been a brilliant filly for all of us and gave us a day to remember when winning the Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh last time,” trainer Joseph O'Brien said. “Getting the better of Santa Barbara as she did certainly reads well now, given her exploits in America since then. This is the race we've had in mind for her since then, as we wanted to give her a bit of time until her next run given her run at The Curragh had come quite quickly after her trip to America.”
Cayenne Pepper's trainer Jessica Harrington is aware of the task in hand. “It's the best race of the whole year for those fillies. It's an incredible race,” she said. “She's in good form and we've had it in mind all year this is the race we wanted to go for, but we didn't quite expect it to be quite as hot is it is.” Adding to the heady mix is The Aga Khan's May 2 G3 Prix Allez France and May 26 G2 Prix Corrida winner Ebaiyra (Distorted Humor), who drops back in trip having finished a length runner-up to Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the July 4 G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
On the receiving end of beatings by Ebaiyra in both the Allez France and Corrida, Shadwell's Raabihah (Sea the Stars {Ire}) goes back up in trip for the 12 1/2-furlong G2 Darley Prix de Pomone on the card. Last year's G3 Prix de Psyche winner and G1 Prix Vermeille runner-up was also fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, so it may be that this extra stamina test is what she needs as a 4-year-old. Standing in her way is another Aga Khan homebred in Valia (Fr) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who had this card's G2 Darley Prix Kergorlay favourite Skazino (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) a head back in second in the 14-furlong G2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil at ParisLongchamp July 14. Runner-up to Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) in the G3 Prix Minerve over this course and distance 12 months ago, Valia was eighth in the Vermeille before moving up to staying distances to win the G2 Prix Chaudenay and finish second in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak also at ParisLongchamp. Al Shaqab Racing's progressive still-unexposed Katara (Fr) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is on the up after her success in the Listed Pontefract Castle Fillies' S. over a mile and a half June 20, while the duo of 3-year-olds are the June 4 G1 Epsom Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) and Coolmore's Aug. 1 Listed Grand Prix de Clairefontaine winner Joie de Soir (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).
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