Desmond Stoneham

LONGCHAMP - SUNDAY

1.00 Total Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches (Group 1) 2yo fillies 1m

Aidan O’Brien’s aptly-named Ballydoyle is the one they all have to beat. The daughter of Galileo is a Group 2 winner at the Curragh and should again hold the Jim Bolger-trained Turret Rocks who has since franked the form by taking the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster. The extra furlong looks well in the range of Ballydoyle. The one they all have to beat is Antonoe and Pascal Bary has already won the Marcel Boussac on six occasions. Unbeaten in two outings, this filly made light work of her rivals when winning the Group 3 Prix d’Aumale ahead of Aktoria and Ella Diva who take up the challenge again. Quemah is less exposed for Jean-Claude Rouget but she hacked up at this track last time out. Left Hand won a newcomers’ race in good style. Karl Burke’s Katie’s Diamond finished third in the Prix du Calvados.

Selection: BALLYDOYLE

Next best: Antonoe

1.35 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-Grand Criterium (Group 1) 2yo colts and fillies 1m

Johannes Vermeer bolted up in his maiden at Killarney and then went on to a Group 2 success over today’s distance at Leopardstown. Stablemate Shogun was a well-beaten third behind Herald The Dawn who has since run second to Air Force Blue in the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes. Galileo Gold landed a hat-trick when winning the Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. Richard Hannon fields Ventura Storm but his form gives him a bit to do. Simon Crisford has his first runner in France with First Selection, who won the Group 3 Solario Stakes at Sandown last time out and John Gosden relies on Cymric a winner at Sandown. The French best could be Andre Fabre’s Ultra who is highly rated and unbeaten in two outings. Atendu won the Group 3 Prix La Rochette over a furlong shorter.

Selection: JOHANNES VERMEER

Next best: Galileo Gold

2.10 Prix de l’Opera-Longines (Group 1) 3yo+ fillies and mares 1m 2f

A fascinating field and Karl Burke’s Odeliz could add another Group 1 victory to her record. Last year’s winner We Are is also in the line-up as are the classic winners Star Of Seville and Covert Love. The only Irish runner is Coolmore’s Diamondsandrubies. Odeliz was sent to Deauville in August where she landed a brave win in the Prix Jean Romanet after making every yard of the running. She accounted for We Are, Fate and Feodora and should do again although the underfoot conditions are different. John Gosden saddles both Star Of Seville and Jazzi Top and both have an excellent chance. The former stayed on to win the Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly. She has since finished seventh in the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood behind Cladocera and Jazzi Top but ahead of Diamondsandrubies. Jazzi Top went on to Deauville where she won the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette and finished in front of Little Nightingale and Wekeela. That form is virtually the same as the Diane on a line through the third Sainte Amarante. Covert Love won the Darley Irish Oaks for Hugo Palmer before her second in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks. Queen’s Jewel started favourite for the Diane and finished 11th after running free early on.

Selection: ODELIZ

Next best: Covert Love

2.55 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1) 3yo+ colts and fillies 1m 4f

Everything seems in favour of Treve to land a hat-trick in Europe’s richest race and so become a legend in the annals of thoroughbred racing. She crushed the opposition in 2013 but was not quite as eye- catching a year ago. Following three defeats many had written her off and Thierry Jarnet also had his doubts but she was back on song when beating Flintshire in the Arc. She defeated him again in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud this year and her performance when winning the Vermeille by six lengths was awesome. Criquette Head-Maarek has solved the feet and back problems which bothered Treve last year. Although she has won on good ground, her best efforts have come when there has been a little cut. She has a good draw (8) and now just needs a little luck in the running with her 48-year-old jockey, who is the safest pair of hands in French racing.

Andre Fabre also has a strong hand to play with New Bay and the experienced Flintshire who will have his favourite surface. Both horses are owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah who has won the Arc on four previous occasions. New Bay captured the Prix du Jockey Club in style, then the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville before proving that he stayed a mile and a half well in the Prix Niel.

The main English hope is Golden Horn, who was supplemented into the Arc for €120,000 last Thursday by John Gosden. The impressive winner of the Investec Derby and then the Coral Eclipse Stakes, he missed the King George because of the testing ground. A little rusty, he went under by a neck to Arabian Queen in the Juddmonte International before defeating Found, also an Arc runner, in the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes where he gave third placed Free Eagle a nasty bump in the closing stages. Back to a right-handed track and a mile and a half, Golden Horn will be involved. Free Eagle will also be a force to be reckoned with. At Leopardstown, he was racing for the first time since winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. He will have his ground at Longchamp and will be running over a mile and a half for the first time. If Erupt can produce the form which won him the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris, he will be in the frame. The colt was given a break after the Group 1 victory and was carrying a condition when a well beaten fourth by New Bay when in the Niel. In addition, he hated the testing ground on that occasion. Found and Tapestry represent Coolmore and Aidan O’Brien. The brave and consistent Found beat Ervedya in last year’s Marcel Boussac but went under to the same filly in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. She thrashed the opposition in the Kilfrush Stud Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh before her second to Golden Horn. The daughter of Galileo will be racing over a mile and a half for the first time. After running second in last year’s Darley Irish Oaks, Tapestry won the Darley Yorkshire Oaks before her 13th place behind Treve in the Arc last year. She reappeared last month in the Blandford Stakes and ran an excellent second to the Group 1 winner, Ribbons. For those wishing to back an outsider, look no further than Dolniya. She was probably a little tired when third to Treve and Flintshire in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud following a hard race when runner-up in the Investec Coronation Cup. On good ground, she had previously beaten Flintshire two and a quarter lengths in the Dubai Sheema Classic which is roughly the same winning distance that Treve achieved when finishing ahead of the same horse at Saint-Cloud and in the 2014 Arc. Forget Dolniya’s run in the Prix Foy as she hated the very testing ground.

Selection: TREVE

Next best: New Bay

3.40 Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (Group 1) 2yo+ 5f

It is almost certain a raider from across the Channel will pick up this valuable five furlong dash. Several of the runners are course and distance winners and they include Mecca’s Angel and Move In Time who ended up in the winner’s circle a year ago. On that occasion, Move In Time beat Rangali with many other top sprinters further behind. Trained by David O’Meara, Move In Time recently proved his well-being by winning again at Longchamp when taking the Prix du Petit Couvert with Mirza fourth and Rangali way back in eighth place. Mecca’s Angel has had a fantastic season for Michael Dods but the ground may rule her out. She took the Prix de Saint-Georges with ease and hammered some top class opponents in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York where Sole Power was fourth in front of Goldream and Muthmir. Maarek won this sprint in 2013 and was recently beaten just a head by Sole Power in the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five at the Curragh after a listed victory at Beverley. Gutaifan is the only two-year-old in the race and recently took the Flying Childers at Doncaster having previously chased the Middle Park Stakes winner Shalaa home in the Darley Prix Morny.

Selection: MECCA’S ANGEL

Next best: Move in Time.

4.50 Qatar Prix de la Foret (Group 1) 3yo+ 7f

It would be wonderful if the Irish gelding Gordon Lord Byron could take this race again but he faces some smart opponents and his latest run was rather disappointing. The Henry Candy-trained Limato appeals a lot and he has never been out of the first two in eight runs and successful on six occasions. The gelding chased Muhaarar (since the winner of the July Cup and Prix Maurice de Gheest) home in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and has since won a Group 2 contest at Doncaster with ease. Toormore is back to his best distance and was recently the winner of a Group 2 contest in Turkey. He could not cope with the dreadful ground at Deauville when fifth to Esoterique in the Jacques Le Marois. Gordon Lord Byron took the Foret in 2012 and was runner-up for the next two years. He hit form in the summer with a listed victory at the Curragh and then some decent places but his 10th place in the Betfred Sprint Cup was below par. David O’Meara runs both Custom Cut and G Force, who was supplemented. G Force won the Betfred Sprint Cup last year and was fourth in the same race last month. Andre Fabre’s Make Believe hacked up in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains ahead of New Bay and has not been out since a moderate fifth to Gleneagles in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Selection: LIMATO

Next best: Toormore

5.20 Qatar Prix du Cadran (Group 1) 4yo+ 2m 4f

Willie Mullins has a decent chance of winning France’s top staying event as he fields Clondaw Warrior and Simenon. The German challenge is strong and headed by Alex My Boy, Hughie Morrison sends over Fun Mac and the best of the French team should be Bathyrhon.

The last named won the Group 2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier before a fifth in the Ascot Gold Cup and is now back to his best distance.

Clondaw Warrior won the Ascot Stakes, the Guinness Handicap at Galway and was recently runner-up in the Doncaster Cup. Alex My Boy captured the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay at Deauville. After a break of 16 months Litigant won the Ebor Handicap at odds of 33/1.

Selection: CLONDAW WARRIOR

Next best: Bathyrhon