Chantilly Sunday
3.05 Prix de Diane Longines (Group 1) (3yo Fillies) of €1,000,000. 1m 2f 110yds
For the fourth time in the last seven years, France’s premier fillies’ contest, the Group 1 Prix de Diane Longines, will take place without any Irish involvement at Chantilly tomorrow.
With Aidan O’Brien’s dual classic heroine Hermosa rerouted to next week’s Coronation Stakes, the only overseas challengers in a field of 16 will be the Newmarket-trained Nausha and Entitle, first and second in the Group 3 Musidora Stakes on their latest starts.
John Gosden’s Entitle, a half-sister to the dual Arc winner Enable, was having her seasonal debut (and only her third lifetime start) in the Musidora and can overturn that form, but Frankie Dettori’s mount has plenty on her plate against some exciting locally-trained fillies.
Pick of these is the unbeaten Siyarafina, whose trainer, Alain de Royer-Dupré, could not be in better form with 10 victories from his last 22 runners.
A Pivotal filly who is very closely-related to the Group 1 winner and highly successful stallion Siyouni, Siyarafina proved her ability to stay a mile and a quarter when winning the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp last time out.
She was quite impressive that day without jockey Christophe Soumillon needing to use his stick, yet it is a mark of the regard in which she is held by Royer-Dupré that he expressed himseld a little disappointed afterwards.
The trainer with the strongest hand, numerically at least, is Jean-Claude Rouget, restored to all cylinders after a bout of ill health forced him to miss Sottsass’s brilliant Prix du Jockey-Club triumph here a fortnight ago.
The pick of his four contenders is Commes, comfortably put in her place by Siyarafina back in April but subsequently runner-up only by the narrowest of margins in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and bred to improve for this step-up in trip.
Rouget will also be represented by Etoile, ready winner of the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre; Cartiem, who made it three straight victories in the Group 3 Prix Penelope last time, albeit that was a highly unsatisfactory four-runner affair; and Ebony, beaten in two condition race starts this term but from the family of the three-time Group 1 winner Ervedya.
Siyarafina apart, the only Group 1 winner in the field is Wonderment, who beat the colts in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud last November. That form has not worked out at all well, and Wonderment could manage no better than fourth place, two places behind two of Sunday’s rivals, Channel and Ebony, on her one start this season.
The most intriguing dark horse of the contest is Amarena, unraced until making a winning debut in a maiden at Dusseldorf in mid-April and then a silky smooth scorer in listed company at ParisLongchamp last month.
Those first two starts were for German trainer Henk Grewe. A nicely-bred daughter of Soldier Hollow, she has since been sold to the Japanese owner Masaaki Matsushima, hence she will run for expatriate Chantilly trainer Satoshi Kobayashi, and be ridden by the winning-most Japanese jockey of all time, Yutaka Take.
Siyarafina is much the most likely winner. But she will be a prohibitively short price, is drawn widest of all and is not certain to be suited by the likely soft ground.
At the odds, it could be worth taking a chance on Amarena (herself drawn 15 of 16) at a much bigger price.
SELECTION: AMARENA
Next best: Siyarafina
In the supporting races, the Mikel Delzangles-trained Kasaman could prove the answer to a sub-standard renewal of the €120,000 Prix Hocquart Longines (a mile and a half Group 2 trial for the Grand Prix de Paris).
Freddy Head’s Anodor (now in blinkers) can get back on track by landing the Group 3 €80,000 Prix Paul de Moussac Longines over a mile.