It doesn't look as if the weather is going to be kind.
It has been raining off and on through the week according to our Paris spies and the going is already classed as soft.
With that in mind we will try to find the odd mudlark in our selections for this excellent day of racing which includes three G2s and two G1s.
The Prix Chaudenay is G2 over 3000m and at this stage has 19 3yos lining up. Godolphin-Appleby's Manoba is odds on having so far not been beaten and won his last start in France in a Listed at Saint Cloud by 10 lengths. This is longer but that does not look like it will be a problem. James Doyle rides. Interpretation is on 7/2 for Aidan O'Brien with Ioritz Mendizabel riding, the other Appleby Kemari is on 11/2 with Dettori on board and a roughie here with a bit of soft going form is the German raider Alter Adler on 9/1 for Hickst and C. Demuro.
The Prix Daniel Wildenstein is G2 over 1600m with 12 runners. Francis Graffard's The Revenant is trying to win this for the third year running and is on 11/8 with Olivier Peslier in the irons. Godolphin-bin Suroor are bringing Real World over to challenge with Dettori riding and they are on 4/1. The Aga Khan's Dilawar is on 8/1 and our roughie here is Ecrivain on 25/1. He had a couple of good finishes on very soft and heavy ground earlier in the season.
The Prix du Cadran G1 is over 4000m and sees 13 stayers lining up. Princess Zoe won this last year on heavy ground and recent seconds in the Irish St Leger and the Ascot Gold Cup show she is in form. Anthony Mullins trains and J M Sheridan as usual on board. The headlines however have been for the clash between Trueshan and Stradivarius who have been dodging each other all season. Trueshan is running the trip for the first time but will love the ground whereas this is not Stradivarius's favourite surface. Don't be surprised if he's a late withdrawal. Our roughie here is Skazino on 12/1 for Cedric Rossi with Barzalona riding. He's done well on this track when it has been on the very soft side.
The Prix de Royallieu is G1 for f&m over 2800m and will have 11 runners. Valia is on 13/8 for Alain du Royer-Dupre with Soumillon riding. She's been in a couple of clashes with Skazino but they are racing in different races this time. Joie de Soir is a Coolmore runner with Andre Fabre in France and Barzalona rides. We like the chances of Passion here on 11/1 with Mendizabel booked for the ride. She ran in this last year finishing 4th behind Wonderful Tonight who unfortunately is not here. And a very rough roughie here is Control Tower on 25/1 for Nicholas Clement and Seb Maillot – she's suffering from "second-it is" having run second or third in her last 5 outings so she's paying for her oats.
The Prix Dollar G2 over 2000m is often referred to as "the gelding's Arc" since the ridiculous rules prohibiting geldings from running in certain races apply to the Arc. There are 10 runners here with Godolphin's Magny Cours on top on 7/2 with the Fabre pupil having run third in the Dubai World Cup and showing that soft ground is not a problem. It is quite an open race and the next horse the pin landed on is Saiydabad on 6/1 Rouget-Soumillon, with Irish raider Cadillac on 11/2 for Jessica Harrington and Olivier Peslier booked for the ride, and our roughie here Dawn Intello from the stables of our mate Andreas Schutz who ran a blinder recently and Gerald Mosse rides – 16/1 could be value.
