ParisLongchamp Sunday

2.50 Qatar Prix Vermeille (Group 1) 1m 4f

Sparan Nua is taken to complete an Irish Group 1 double and give her 84-year-old trainer, Jim Bolger, his biggest victory in more than five years by lifting the 13-runner Qatar Prix Vermeille.

Unraced until less than four months ago, this daughter of Dawn Approach has made rapid progress through the summer, culminating in her magnificent effort in defeat in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks at York 17 days ago, when she failed by an agonising short head to reel in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes heroine, Kalpana.

She holds fifth-placed Tattycoram and seventh-placed Sugar Island on that form and is capable of making further improvement, with the likelihood of good ground also in her favour. The home defence is topped by the Group 1-placed trio Sunly, from the Andre and Lavinia Fabre stable, Yann Barberot’s Lapotheose and the Patrice Cottier-trained Pink Panthera.

I am not convinced about the standard of any of those big races: Sunly was third behind a probably below-par Calandagan in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Lapotheose failed to justify short odds in the Preis der Diana and Pink Panthera has been beaten in a Group 2 since running Diamond Necklace close in the Prix de Diane.

A bigger threat to Sparan Nua could come from John and Thady Gosden’s Friendly Soul, the pick of a five-strong British raiding party. Undeterred by the fact that she will be stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time, Friendly Soul has been deemed worthy of a supplementary entry and she proved her liking for this venue when annexing the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera here back in 2024.

The other British supplementary entry, the Charlie Appleby-trained Romantic Symphony, could also go well. She has won her last two and, as a full-sister to both a Breeders’ Cup Turf scorer and a three-time Group 1 winner, is bred to be pretty special.

With a bank roll of over €1.2 million, Survie is the highest-earning member of the field. Now with George Boughey, she has landed big pots in America on her last two starts, yet her only win in her last 11 European appearances came in a Listed race on the all-weather.

SELECTION: SPARAN NUA

Next best: Friendly Soul

3.25 Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (Group 1) 1m

The centrepiece of a superb card at Longchamp on Sunday is an eight-runner renewal of the Group 1 Qatar Prix du Moulin, which sees three older milers, spearheaded by the talented Godolphin tearaway Opera Ballo, take on four three-year-olds, led by Aidan O’Brien’s teak-tough Gstaad.

It barely seems credible that, after just 10 career starts, Gstaad has been the bridesmaid in Group 1 company on no less than six occasions. It is to his great credit that he has not become sickened by so many narrow reverses, winning all four of his other outings, including top-level contests in both America and Ireland. Despite being struck into, he may have posted a new career best last time at Goodwood when going down by half a length to his nemesis, Bow Echo, in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes with two of Sunday’s rivals, Opera Ballo and Ten Bob Tony, a length and three-quarters and more back in third and fourth.

With the injured Bow Echo sadly absent, Gstaad’s task has been made considerably easier but the supplementary entry of a pacemaker, Dorset, signifies O’Brien’s determination to take nothing for granted with this brilliant Starspangledbanner colt.

While I expect Gstaad to come out on top, the impression remains that, should the free-running Opera Ballo ever learn to settle, he could be capable of a monster effort. He took a ferocious grip when making the running at Goodwood and, should Dorset set a rapid tempo and Opera Ballo drop the bridle in behind him, there is a chance that Ballydoyle’s decision to throw in a pacemaker could backfire.

A more likely scenario is that Opera Ballo will get lit up and severely compromise his chance. Should that be the case, Gstaad’s biggest danger could be the Ed Walker-trained Ten Bob Tony, who has proved that his shock defeat of Opera Ballo in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes in June was no fluke, with a pair of solid subsequent runs in defeat and will appreciate this return to a mile after finishing fourth when dropping down to seven furlongs for the Group 1 City of York Stakes just over a fortnight ago.

Erdenali and Nighttime, who complete the three-year-old quartet, are both interesting candidates. This represents a big step up in class for Erdenali, who was unlucky when losing his unbeaten record in a Group 3 last time out, so preference is for Nighttime, who had two subsequent Group 1 winners behind when third in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat last time out.

SELECTION: GSTAAD

Next best: Ten Bob Tony

4.00 Qatar Prix Neil (Group 2) 1m 4f

Many will expect the Irish Derby victor Benvenuto Cellini to notch a third Irish success of the day, and second for Aidan O’Brien, in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Neil, but he may be denied by the Mikel Delzangles-trained Alam.

Benvenuto Cellini posted a game effort to finish third to Kalpana in the King George and will have the benefit of a pacemaker here in the shape of the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club third, Montreal, who is surely much better than he showed last time in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano.

However, Alam did very well to finish as close as he did in fifth from an impossible draw in the Jockey Club and got going too late to manage better than third when stepping up to this distance in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris when last seen in July. He will have benefited from a summer break and should not be underestimated.

Another credible challenger among a seven-strong field is Pearled Majesty, whose Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam win in June was boosted when the runner-up, Baroud, landed a similar event seven weeks later.

SELECTION: ALAM

Next best: Benvenuto Cellini

4.35 Qatar Prix Foy (Group 2) 1m 4f

Sunday is billed as ‘Arc Trials Day’ and racegoers will have to wait until the last of the six pattern races on the card to see the 2025 Arc hero, Daryz, strut his stuff in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy.

A striking-looking son of Sea The Stars, the Francis Graffard-trained Daryz looked to have improved again upon what he had shown in lifting Europe’s most sought-after autumn prize, when laughing at his rivals during two Group 1 triumphs over shorter trips in the spring.

Then his supporters were brought crashing down to earth, when he could finish no better than third in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June and he hasn’t been seen since.

To Graffard’s great relief, that debacle was explained by an elevated blood count and Daryz is confidently expected to return to winning ways here en route to defending his Arc crown.

He has just three rivals to beat. Much the best of them is the runaway Coronation Cup winner, Bay City Roller, who really needs testing ground to be at the top of his game but, reported to be in good shape by his trainer, George Scott, should still comfortably be good enough to take second spot.

SELECTION: DARYZ

Next best: Bay City Roller