DEAUVILLE SUNDAY

2.45 DARLEY PRIX MORNY (GROUP 1) (2YO COLTS & FILLIES) 6F

Just two French-trained juveniles take on seven foreign invaders in Sunday’s feature, the Darley Prix Morny, although the paucity of local contenders is hardly a surprise given that this six-furlong Group 1 prize has been exported in 12 of the last 13 seasons.

Aidan O’Brien has won it three times but not since 2001. He is represented by Land Force, who will again cross swords with the Mark Johnston-trained Marie’s Diamond, who chased him home a length in arrears in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Goodwood.

That pair make less appeal than Signora Cabello, who is trained in England by John Quinn, successful in this race four years ago with The Wow Signal.

A daughter of Camacho, Signora Cabello already has two Group 2 victories to her name, first in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and then when beating the colts in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin.

But the outstanding piece of form in the race is the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge triumph posted by another filly, Pretty Pollyanna.

Scrimmaging in behind may have led to the size of her winning margin (seven lengths) being artificially extended, but the fact that the second, sixth and seventh have all won since suggests that this Oasis Dream progeny, trained in Newmarket by Michael Bell, may be something special.

Karl Burke, bidding for back-to-back Morny triumphs, is two-handed and the pick of his duo could be the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg scorer, Comedy, who likes to bowl along in front and should make this a true test.

The two locals, Sexy Metro and Simply Striking, both finished behind Signora Cabello in the Robert Papin. That was a messy affair and Simply Striking, who trailed home last of five but was finishing best of all, will relish this extra half furlong and may represent some each way value.

SELECTION: PRETTY POLLYANNA

Next best: Simply Striking

3.20 DARLEY PRIX JEAN ROMANET (GROUP 1) (4YO+ FILLIES & MARES) 1M 2F

Aidan O’Brien’s Rhododendron, a three-time Group 1 scorer and runner-up in two classics, appears to have lost her zest for racing at the age of four judged by three of her four 2018 starts and on that evidence makes no appeal in the Darley Prix Jean Romanet.

However, this would not be the strongest of races and her other outing this term, in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes back in May, was a victorious one with three subsequent top-level winners in her wake.

She stays this mile and a quarter trip and a return to that Newbury form would make her very hard to beat.

Bateel is a safer option. She has been handled with kid gloves by trainer Francis-Henri Graffard this season, running just once, but that appearance, a win in the Group 2 Prix Corrida, proved that she has the pace for this trip and she demonstrated her quality last autumn when landing the Group 1 Prix Vermeille.

Jessica Harrington’s I’m So Fancy, a second Irish challenger, posted a career best when chasing home Magical in a Group 2 at the Curragh last month but has more on her plate here, while the best of two British raiders is the William Haggas-trained Urban Fox, winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes and second in another Group 1, the Nassau Stakes, on her last two starts.

SELECTION: BATEEL

Next best: Urban Fox

British trainer Hughie Morrison can land a third straight Darley Prix Kergorlay – one of two Group 2 events on Sunday’s Deauville undercard – with the defending champion, Marmelo. Morrison has a solid second string in this mile and seven-furlong contest in the shape of the 2016 winner, Nearly Caught, while Ireland is represented by Willie Mullins’s Queen Alexandra Stakes runner-up, Renneti, who will be ridden for the first time by Ryan Moore.The other Group 2 is the Darley Prix de Pomone, a fillies’ affair over a mile and a half and 110 yards.

A return to patient riding tactics could see Illuminate, the solitary three-year-old in the field, get back to winning ways at the main expense of Bebe d’Amour.