Deauville Sunday

3.25 Sumbe Prix Morny (Group 1) (2yo colts & fillies) 6f

Contrary to most recent campaigns, the French early-season juvenile form looks strong this term and the Justify filly Ramatuelle is taken to overcome Aidan O’Brien’s Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner, River Tiber, and continue a wonderful season for her young trainer, Christopher Head.

Ramatuelle has been beaten on one of her four appearances, but that was still a fine effort behind another potential star in Beauvatier and she has since been dismissive in landing a pair of pattern races by wide margins.

The Coventry form is invariably strong and this year looks no exception: it was given another boost last Saturday when Bucanero Fuerte landed the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. However, River Tiber’s winning margin was only a neck and the fact that he suffered a minor setback that caused O’Brien to favour this race over the Phoenix for him is another slight negative.

An overnight deluge in Deauville into Friday morning, (22mm), caused some late withdrawals but this is a particularly deep Morny field: five of the other seven contenders have already been successful in pattern company.

Both the Clive Cox-trained Jasour and Simon and Ed Crisford’s Vandeek have prevailed in Group 2 company, in the July Stakes and Richmond Stakes respectively, and so has Adrian Murray’s Valiant Force, who pulled off a 150/1 shock when he took the Norfolk Stakes.

Karl Burke’s Elite Status was only third when favourite for that Royal Ascot event but has since redeemed himself by taking the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg over this course and distance, a race in which he beat the reopposing Sajir by a length and a quarter.

And the Charlie Johnston-trained Sacred Angel threw her hat into the Morny ring by drawing three lengths clear of her nearest pursuer in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes.

SELECTION: RAMATUELLE

Next Best: River Tiber

2.50 Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet (Group 1) (4yo+ Fillies & Mares) 1m 2f

A highly competitive eight-runner field, with many of them having run against each other and even Jessica Harrington’s Trevaunance, who has been out of sorts in three starts this term but has won both of her outings at this track, given some kind of chance.

It may be worth siding with One For Bobby, the former Johnny Murtagh trainee and now Hughie Morrison representative, as he took Group 1-placed Stay Alert out on Friday.

A daughter of Frankel, One For Bobby chased home two subsequent Group 1 heroines in the Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle in June and has since landed a tidy Group 3 success at Vichy. She will be happy with the soft conditions.

Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve looks sure to involved at the finish as she is highly consistent and her usual front-running tactics mean that bad luck in-running is usually taken out of the equation.

That said, she did receive a hefty bump, as did the runner-up Stay Alert, when they filled the places behind George Boughey’s Via Sistina in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh last month, so this rematch will have a certain edge to it.

Other familiar foes crossing swords anew here are Darkaniya and Mqse De Sevigne, who were separated by a nose in a listed race at Chantilly before the latter went on to land a substandard Group 1 Prix Rothschild over a mile and two furlongs three weeks ago.

SELECTION: ONE FOR BOBBY

Next Best: Above The Curve

JOSEPH O’Brien also saddles his Irish Oaks fourth Lumiere Rock in one of the day’s two €130,000 Group 2 events, the five-runner Sumbe Prix Alec Head, which was formerly known as the Prix de la Nonette and is a mile and two-furlong affair restricted to three-year-old fillies.

I expect this to witness the renaissance of Andre Fabre’s Pensee Du Jour, so disappointing when strongly fancied for the Group 1 Prix de Diane.

Charles Byrnes’ Run For Oscar is the only Irish runner among a field of nine for the mile and seven furlong Group 2 Sumbe Prix Kergorlay where the admirable six-year-old The Good Man can shrug off a 2lb penalty to follow up his recent Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil triumph.

Trainer Yann Barberot has a highly promising bunch of two-year-olds this season and, at Deauville today, his Starspangledbanner filly Laulne can confirm her Group 3 Prix Six Perfections superiority over Classic Flower in the Group 2 seven-furlong Prix du Calvados. The ready Goodwood maiden winner Ornellaia, trained by Dominic Ffrench Davis, is the pick of three British challengers in a field of eight.

In the Group 2 Prix de Pomone over a mile, four furlongs and 110 yards, Andre Fabre’s Ottery is bound to have plenty of supporters having progressed a good deal to land the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont when last seen 11 weeks ago.

But preference among a field off 11 promising types is for the David Menuisier-trained Heartache Tonight, who is returning after being set some stiff tasks in the spring and, like her dual Group 1-winning half-sister Wonderful Tonight, should improve for this step up in trip.

James selected Inspiral (SP 9/1) for last week’s Prix Jacques le Marois