2:37 The Gurkha Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary (Group 1) (3yo Fillies) 1m2f

You have to go back to 2010 and 2009, with Saratina and Stacelita, to find a truly top-class winner of the The Gurkha Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary but, despite a small field, Sunday’s five-runner renewal of this mile and a quarter Group 1 fillies contest promises to be a cracker.

Laurens, trained in England by Karl Burke, is the outstanding member of the quintet. Successful in last season’s Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket, she returned to the Rowley Mile for her 2017 bow, beating all except the 66/1 outsider, Billesdon Brook, in the 1000 Guineas.

These extra two furlongs should be perfect for the daughter of Siyouni and prove a great stepping stone to the Prix de Diane.

Three of her adversaries are bred in the purple. Flowrider, a daughter of the 2011 winner of this race, Wavering, makes a massive leap in class having beaten other unraced fillies on her debut three weeks ago, in contrast to Soustraction, from the family of the 2011 Arc heroine, Solemia, already a Group 3 scorer but a tad disappointing of late.

The one with the strongest credentials, then, is With You, a full-sister to the subsequently disqualified 2014 Alary winner, We Are.

Her last outing was a very smooth triumph in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs in October and she will give Laurens plenty to worry about if lack of race fitness does not count against her.

Selection: LAURENS

Next best: With You

3:50 Churchill Coolmore Prix d’Ispahan (Group 1) (4yo+) 1m1½f

The Churchill Coolmore Prix d’Ispahan has been won by such luminaries of the turf as Solow, Cirrus Des Aigles and Goldikova over recent years so perhaps tomorrow’s running of this €250,000 contest, returned to ParisLongchamp after its two-year sojurn in Chantilly, is not a vintage renewal.

The unusual distance of this Group 1 event – one mile, one furlong and 55 yards – makes it unique, appealing to milers and mile and a quarter horses alike.

It should prove ideal for the Carlos Laffon-Parias-trained Recoletos, who proved himself not far off the very best when third in last year’s Prix du Jockey-Club and fourth in the Champion Stakes, and he made a highly satisfactory reappearance in the one-mile Group 2 Prix du Muguet four weeks ago.

A son of Whipper, he had the dual Group 2-winning miler Taareef almost five lengths adrift in third in the Muguet and should confirm that form, especially with the highly capable Oriental again in the field to ensure a decent pace.

Of his other three rivals, both Trais Flours and the German challenger, Wild Chief, have failed to progress after strong starts to their careers, so his stiffest opposition could come from the British hope, Almodovar.

This Sea The Stars gelding was having his first start for 19 months (and his first for trainer Roger Charlton) when pulling very hard at Sandown Park recently, yet he still somehow managed to finish within two lengths of the classy winner, Crystal Ocean, and is likely to prove more tractable off a strong gallop over this shorter trip.

Selection: RECOLETOS

Next best: Almodovar

4.25 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier (Group 2) 1m 7f

The one-mile and seven-furlong Group 2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier has attracted an excellent field, headed by the three best French-trained stayers – Ice Breeze, Vazirabad and Holdthasigreen – and the useful British raider Marmelo.

Fresh from a third consecutive Dubai Gold Cup victory back in March and now approaching €3 million in career earnings, Vazirabad may be able to take revenge for his Prix Royal-Oak defeat at the hands of Ice Breeze, but it will be tight.

Marmelo, last seen when finishing ninth as the favourite for the Melbourne Cup last November, is still open to improvement after just 12 career starts. He can go well fresh and is much respected.

Selection: VAZIRABAD

Next best: Ice Breeze

The best race on the rest of the ParisLongchamp card is the Group 3 Prix du Lys, a mile and a half event restricted to three-year-olds.

My Lord And Master and Ispolini provide a strong two-pronged British challenge but the Prix de l’Avre winner,

Neufbosc, may be able to beat the Coolmore-owned King Of Camelot for a third time and prevail for his Swedish-born Chantilly trainer, Pia Brandt.