BOW Echo’s absence has blown Sunday’s Group 1 Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques le Marois (2.50) wide apart and Aidan O’Brien could be the main beneficiary as classic heroine Precise makes her third top-level appearance in a little more than a month at Deauville.

Last year’s Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies’ Mile star was back to her best in winning the Irish 2000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes before coming up short against top-class older rival Blue Bolt in both the Falmouth Stakes and Prix Rothschild in recent weeks.

The manner in which the Starspangledbanner filly has taken her races has prompted Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore team to roll the dice with her again; just a fortnight on from her last trip to France. She is the only filly in this 10-strong line-up, which also features Fozzy Stack’s star colt Thesecretadversary.

O’Brien, who won this race 12 months ago with Diego Velazquez, told The Irish Field: “Precise is taking her racing well, progressing, getting stronger mentally and physically. We were surprised how well she came out the last race, so that’s why she’s back here. She’s in good form, we think, and obviously she has run well over this track before.”

The race sponsors’ French 2000 Guineas winner Rayif is out to bounce back from a defeat to Thesecretadversary in the Prix Jean Prat five weeks ago, when sent off the 6/4 favourite.

Nemone Routh, director and French racing manager for the leading operation, said: “It was really disappointing to hear the news about Bow Echo. Obviously we sponsor the race and we were really excited to have him potentially running there as sponsors, even if we did have Rayif in the race.

Course form

“Rayif has got good form at this track and won at this meeting last year as a two-year-old. He was caught behind a bit of a muddling pace last time out in the Jean Prat; they quickened from the front and he just got caught a bit for toe.”

She added: “We would hope to see a better run over a furlong further and also he’s got that run under his belt as he has had a little bit of a stop-start year. He missed his prep so he went straight to the Poule d’Essai and after that he was meant to go to Royal Ascot and we had to abort that because he got a very minor problem so he couldn’t travel.

“You’re constantly stopping and starting slightly and this is the first time he’s had a trouble-free prep all year really, so we’re hopeful. I think it’s a very open race and the Bow Echo news has probably meant people might take their chance when they might have avoided him before.”

There is added interest in this year’s renewal with the presence of two Japanese-trained horses in the €1 million contest.

Sixpence, last seen winning the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo over a mile 10 weeks ago, brings high-class form to the table and will be ridden by legendary veteran Yutaka Take. Fellow iconic international rider Joao Moreira is in town to steer the other Japanese challenger, Strauss, who demonstrated a smart level of ability when winning the Listed Abu Dhabi Gold Cup in the UAE in February - beating the likes of Comanche Brave, Quddwah and Jonquil in the process.

There has already been a Japanese winner of this race, long-odds-on favourite Taiki Shuttle, back in 1998.

Speaking at a press conference arranged by France Galop, Sixpence’s trainer Hiroyashu Tanaka said: “He has travelled very well. He was able to work on Deauville’s straight course on Thursday and everything went very smoothly. He can sometimes look a little stiff, but his movement was very good on Thursday. He will be racing on a straight course for the first time on Sunday, but I don’t think that will be a problem for him.”

Japanese view

Tanaka is no stranger to Deauville, as his Alohi Alii won last year’s Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano here, whereas this will be trainer Ryo Takei’s first runner in France with Strauss.

“This is Strauss’s fourth overseas trip, and this time he was able to travel with Sixpence, which helped him a great deal because he does not like travelling alone,” said Takei.

“He also worked on Deauville’s straight course on Thursday. I thought the track was very good and even less firm than might have been expected given the weather conditions.”

Britain will be represented in the Marois by Karl Burke’s recent Ascot Group 2 winner Zeus Olympios and William Haggas’ Lockinge and Queen Anne Stakes second More Thunder, who has a length and a half to find with his fellow British raider from their latest Ascot encounter five weeks ago.

It’s no secret that Aidan O’Brien has won a whole host of Europe’s major contests but he will bid for a first success in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano (1.33) at Deauville today with French Derby third Montreal.

This 10-furlong event has a rich recent roll of honour, featuring the likes of New Bay, Almanzor, Mishriff, Dubai Honour, Ace Impact and Economics. Ballydoyle’s Sea The Stars representative in this year’s edition has always been highly thought of.

“We gave him a good break after the French Derby, with an autumn campaign in mind,” said O’Brien.

“This is his first run back, so he’ll improve a lot from it. He hasn’t gone any further yet than a mile and a quarter but there is a chance he could stay further.”