ParisLongchamp Sunday

2.48 Prix Du Moulin De Longchamp (Group 1) (3yo+) 1m

Five different runners in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin have already tasted victory at the very highest level, while two more members of the field have recorded Group 1 second places earlier this season.

Yet it is hard to escape the conclusion that this is a less than vintage line-up and that none of the 10 contenders for this prestigious mile contest is fit to lace the boots of last year’s winner, the mighty Baaeed.

Consequently, victory may fall into the hands of the 2021 runner-up, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Order Of Australia, a horse who has been beaten on each of his last nine tries in Group 1 company.

This son of Australia has failed to repeat the form that saw him land the Breeders’ Cup Mile almost two years ago. But he should be able to get his own way in front which will boost his chances considerably and two of his last three performances have been highly creditable – a runaway success in the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes and a solid fourth in a deep renewal of the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois.

The biggest name in the field is the 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes hero, Coroebus. But this Godolphin colt was a length and three-quarters behind Order Of Australia in the Marois, where he travelled strongly only to drop away tamely at the finish like a non-stayer, so Ryan Moore will likely be keen to force the issue on Order Of Australia to ensure that his superior stamina comes into play.

And quite what Coroebus achieved when taking advantage of a Newmarket track bias in the Guineas and then gaining a much clearer run than many of his rivals at Royal Ascot is questionable.

Roundly beaten

Dreamloper and Mangoustine were both Group 1 winners at the this venue in the spring but both have been roundly beaten in each of their two subsequent starts and the standard of Mangoustine’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches triumph now looks dubious.

Should forecast thunderstorms hit the track, it will enhance the prospects of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains second, Texas, and, in particular, six-time pattern race scorer The Revenant, who has won both his starts this term but has been absent for over five months.

Of the remainder, it is impossible to rule out the unbeaten Siyouni colt, God Blessing, but he has run only three times and has much more on his plate here than when successful in listed company on his latest outing, while at Goodwood last time it looked like Lusail was beginning to feel the effects of some hard races earlier in the season.

Goldistyle, daughter of the 2008 Moulin heroine Goldikova, managed a Group 1 placing against her own sex last time but needs another big step forward, while the German challenger, Rocchigiani, adds further international flavour and can already boast one notable overseas success, in a Group 3 at Goodwood five weeks ago.

SELECTION: ORDER OF AUSTRALIA Next Best: Coroebus

The ParisLongchamp card also features four €80,000 Group 3 races with last year’s Champion Stakes winner, Sealiway, the biggest name horse among them.

Off the track since disappointing in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan in May having run well in defeat in the Prix Ganay, he faces five opponents in the 1m 2f La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte.

He is likely to be some way off peak fitness and, unless the storms hit, will be running on considerably faster ground than is ideal, so may struggle to peg back the front-running Monty, a battle-hardened seven-year-old who already has three listed wins and a Group 3 victory to his name.

Prix La Rochette

Six domestically trained two-year-olds go to post for the seven furlong Prix La Rochette. Much the most interesting runner here is Alessandro Botti’s unbeaten colt, Breizh Sky, who took the scalps of a couple of useful types in Terrestrial and subsequent group winner Sydneyarms Chelsea when landing a listed race over this trip at Deauville in July.

The seemingly endless recent plundering of high-class French contests by British trainers is set to continue in the six-runner Prix Gladiateur over 1m 7f 110yds. The Ed Dunlop-trained John Leeper has yet to fulfil the promise that saw him sent off at a single-figure price in last year’s Derby but his latest fourth place under a big weight in the super valuable Ebor Handicap at York was a fine effort and he can prove too strong for The Good Man and Tides Of War.

Two also-rans from this year’s Derby, Simon and Ed Crisford’s West Wind Blows (ninth) and the Harry Eustace-trained Star Of India (13th) are the British raiders in the nine-runner Prix du Prince d’Orange for three-year-olds over a mile and a quarter, Star Of India having left Aidan O’Brien’s yard after that classic bid.

Victory may go to the German filly, Mountaha, who finished fourth in the Group 1 Preis der Diana (German Oaks) last time out.