The six G1s start with the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for the 2yos over 1400m with a field on 9 headed by the Christophe Head trained Tigrais, by Outstrip, on 5/2 with Adrien Lemaitre riding. Breizh Sky is by Pedro the Great and Soumillon rides for the Bottis A&G. The Antarctic is the Irish raider here and Ryan Moore will ride the Aidan O'Brien trained son of Dark Angel.
The 2yo fillies run in the Marcel Boussac 1600m with Kelina, a Frankel filly trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias on 7/2 with Maxime Guyon riding. The Irish raider here is Never Ending Story, by Dubawi, on 9/2 for O'Brien-Moore and another raider is Aspen Grove who has been supplemented by Fozzy Stack and Jamie Spencer will be aboard the daughter of Justify and 12/1 is available. Blue Rose Cen is by Churchill and trained by Chris Head with stable jockey Lemaitre on board and they are on 7/1 in the 12 runner field.
The Arc is more open than ever this year with the weather possibly turning the "Très souple" ino the French version of bottomless. And of course that will suit some and others will hate it and we are unfortunately putting the Japanese runners in that category. Luxembourg has been the favourite in recent times. He is going up in trip which may be more of a problem than originally thought if the track is very heavy. His draw 8 is OK. He has been set for this, but so have several others including the 5yo mare Alpinista.
She has won her last 7 starts 5 of them at G1 level and as he trainer Sir Mark Prescott says if you do the maths she has to be the one. And she is by Frankel! Jockey Luke Morris has been with her all the way and has a good temperament for the big races. She is drawn in 6 which is about as good as you can get.
3yo colts have the numbers over the years although in the last 10 years that hasn't been such a force but this year a lot of commentators are leaning towards the "classic generation" and perhaps one of the more promising of these is Onesto, another Frankel product out of a Sea The Stars dam. He made a good fight of the Irish Champion's Stakes with Luxembourg and one always wonders if the result would be the same if they ran it again. He fits the classic profile of a 3yo colt trained in France and his draw of 11 is not the worst. He has a track and distance win here. Fabrice Chappet and Stephan Pasquier are the team involved.
Torquator Tasso won this race last year coming from a win in the Grosser-Preis von Baden Baden. This year he was beaten in that race by Mendocino who was ridden by his former jockey. While this year has not been as successful as last year, he's still in good form and at Baden and at Longchamp is partnered by Frankie Dettori. While he will like the going he won't be helped by being drawn out in gate 18, and as a result he has been drifting out in the betting to 7/1.
Vadeni is a 3yo Churchill colt owned by H.H. The Aga Khan and is trained by J-C Rouget. Christophe Soumillon as usual has the ride. They were third in the Irish Champions but did not give the same confidence of getting the longer trip. There was some doubt that he would run in this race or go to another but he's here and he's drawn well and is on 7/1.
Of course there are roughies galore so in order to simplify life we will just add two – one is another Frankel son (wouldn't it be something if they ran the first 3) Mostahdaf trained by the Gosdens and Jim Crowley in charge of the reins. He's got a reasonable record not always at the top level but it's better than his quote of 50/1 and our old friend Broome who was in this race last year (unplaced) and then went on to run well in the Breeders' Cup races. He's probably been put in to be the pacemaker for Luxembourg but if the track is really bad who knows what may happen and he's 66/1. Titleholder likes to lead so it may be an interesting contest early on for the lead.
The Prix de l'Opéra for f&m over 1800m has a great field of 16. Nashwa, for the Gosdens with Hollie Doyle riding is at 2/1 and she is a daughter of Frankel! Above The Curve is trained by Joseph O'Brien and Ryan Moore will ride. She's by American Pharoah and quoted at 3/1. La Parisienne just failed to make it into the Arc after having run third in the Vermeille and is on 10/3 for the Lerners with Mosse riding. Jessica Harrington has supplemented Trevaunance and she is on 15/1 and worth a bit of e/w. Shane Foley rides.
The Prix de l'Abbaye 1000m across the middle of the course is always tricky to pick and this year is no exception. The Platinum Queen heads the market on 3/1 for Richard Fahey and Hollie Doyle. If you believe the lower numbers in the draw are better then she's drawn well as is Coeur de Pierre on 7/1 for Delcher-Sanchez and Tony Piccone. On that quote you can find Berneuil for the Lerners with Soumillon riding and we are prepared to forget and forgive his last couple of runs and have a little something on A Case of You, who won this last year and won the Al Quoz in Dubai. Ado McGuiness trains and regular jockey Ronan Whelan will be on board.
The Prix de la Foret is over 1400m with 10m runners. There's a couple of raiders heading the market – Kinross 5/2 and Tenebrism 4/1 – but we rather like the local Fang for J-C Rouget with Cristian Demuro riding – he's won at G3 level, track & distance and on soft and very soft and 6/1 looks value.
