With her five-year-old campaign having kicked off more favorably than her
2014 equivalent, Treve (Motivator) bids to keep the momentum rolling on Sunday
as she tackles the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1).
Impressive when successful by 4 1/2 lengths in the 10 1/2-furlong Prix
Corrida (Fr-G2) on her comeback here May 29, Al Shaqab Racing’s standard-bearer
continues her inexorable march towards an unprecedented third win in the Prix de
l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) at Longchamp in October.
Trainer Criquette Head-Maarek is confident that she can show her true colors
here.
“She’s fine, she is in great form and I think she has improved quite a lot
since her last race,” she commented. “She has been going very well at home. I
think this race is the normal progression for her and she looks good physically.
The ground might be a little firm, but normally they water the track well at
Saint-Cloud and I don’t think we can have any excuses.”
Greeting her in this affair are two of France’s higher-profile characters in
Dolniya (Azamour) and Flintshire (Dansili), who have been interlocked in battle
on three occasions so far this term with the former ahead each time. First and
second, respectively, in a March 3 Chantilly conditions event and the Dubai
Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) at Meydan March 28, they were second and third in the
Coronation Cup (Eng-G1) at Epsom June 6 and it is hard to see how Flintshire can
reverse form here.
The Aga Khan’s Dolniya was the subject of an upbeat bulletin from racing
manager Georges Rimaud, who said, “She is in good form, everything is well, but
there is the favorite in the race and she will be hard to beat. It’s a good race
and we’ve got to give it a go.”
If Flintshire fails to fire for Andre Fabre, it could be that the yard’s May
31 Grand Prix de Chantilly (Fr-G2) winner Manatee (Monsun) steps up to the plate
as a still unexposed type. Prior to that latest career-best, Godolphin’s
four-year-old had finished fourth under a seven-pound penalty in Longchamp’s
Prix d’Hedouville (Fr-G3) over this trip May 6 and faces that race’s winner
Meleagros (King’s Best) on level terms here.
After wins in the 11-furlong Prix de la Seine at Longchamp May 10 and
Chantilly’s Prix de Royaumont (Fr-G3) three weeks later, The Aga Khan’s Kataniya
(Raven’s Pass) bids to maintain the winning sequence as she continues to scale
the heights in Sunday’s Prix de Malleret (Fr-G2) at Saint-Cloud. Despite having
just a neck to spare over the re-opposing Sea Calisi (Youmzain) on the latter
occasion, the homebred was forced to make her own running and should be helped
this time by the pacemaker Minya (Sinndar).
Fabre holds the record of seven winners of this prize, and relies on the
Wertheimers’ Solilea (Galileo), who showed improved form upped to this trip when
winning a Longchamp maiden last time June 8, while Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al
Maktoum’s Yaazy (Teofilo) is another who is certain to relish this greater test
of stamina after also getting off the mark at Longchamp May 19.
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