After a break due to a setback, France’s beloved Cirrus des Aigles is back in
action in Saturday’s Group 2 Prix Dollar at Longchamp, in which he was runner-up
12 months ago prior to winning the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot. This is a
tune-up for that much-anticipated clash with Frankel, and trainer Corine
Barande-Barbe has warned that the triple Group 1 winner will need the run just
as he did last year.
“He is running on Saturday and he is well, but he will need the race to get
him ready for Ascot,” she told PA Sport. “I am not worried about the ground, as
he goes on all different types of going. I think he will love the ground. I am
happy with him at home.”
The Niarchos Family’s Maxios upset Reliable Man in the Group 3 La Coupe de
Maisons-Laffitte last time September 21 and adds flavor to an intriguing renewal
alongside Sarl Darpat’s May 20 Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup hero
Chinchon and Godolphin’s quietly progressive August 11 Group 3 Rose of Lancaster
and September 1 Group 2 Anatolia Trophy winner Hunter’s Light.
Also on the Saturday card at Longchamp, Helena Springfield Ltd’s Group 1
Epsom Oaks runner-up Shirocco Star bids for a belated first black-type success
in the Group 2 Prix de Royallieu, with trainer Hughie Morrison hoping that
first-time blinkers will unlock her potential.
Denied by just a neck by Was in the June 1 Epsom classic, the Meon Valley
homebred filled the same spot behind Great Heavens in the Irish equivalent at
The Curragh July 22. That effort came in between a third in the June 21 Group 2
Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot and fourth in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks at York
August 23, and if the headgear works the oracle, she will be a tough opponent in
this class.
“We’re just putting the blinkers on to help her concentrate really,” Morrison
told PA Sport. “We don’t think she’s ungenuine, she just seems to think she’s
done enough once she’s hit the front. She goes on any ground, so hopefully
she’ll run very well.”
The Aga Khan is this race’s leading owner with five wins and Dalkala holds
strong claims on her authoritative success in the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre over 1
5/16 miles at Saint-Cloud May 15. Subsequently fifth in the Group 1 Prix de
Diane over that trip at Chantilly June 17 and third in the Group 2 Prix de
Pomone over this distance at Deauville August 11, she suggested on the last
occasion that she may be more of a stayer than connections believed initially.
Andre Fabre has won Longchamp’s Group 2 Prix Chaudenay 11 times and puts
forward a duo Saturday in Tenenbaum and Only a Pleasure. The former was the more
fancied of the two Godolphin representatives in the Group 2 Grand Prix de
Deauville, but was only seventh behind his Arc-bound stable companion
Masterstroke in that August 26 feature. Previously, he had taken the listed Prix
de Reux over 1 9/16 miles at that venue August 2, and this step up in trip looks
certain to suit.
Only a Pleasure beat Canticum by a nose in the listed Prix Michel Houyvet
over this trip also at Deauville August 15, but was third behind the Aga Khan’s
Verema and that rival in the Group 3 Prix de Lutece over this course and
distance last time September 9. Dr. Ronan Lambe’s Pale Mimosa is an overseas
raider with substance, having registered her first black-type success in York’s
listed Galtres Stakes over 12 furlongs last time August 23.
The Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein has an open feel, with the best recent
form arguably offered by the most unexposed contender in the Aga Khan’s Sarkiyla.
Third of four in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp September 16, she
previously won Deauville’s Group 3 Prix de Lieurey over this trip August 15 and
is the kind of progressive distaffer with which trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre
excels.
Khalid Abdullah’s Mainsail captured the listed Prix Matchem at
Maisons-Laffitte June 6 before finishing runner-up in the Group 3 Prix Daphnis
over nine furlongs here 24 days later and is back after a subsequent break,
while Jeff Smith’s tough campaigner Highland Knight comes here on the back of a
career-best win in Baden-Baden’s Group 2 Oettingen-Rennen August 30. The fourth
and fifth home on that occasion, Amarillo and Amaron, have returned to fight out
the finish of the Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com