French racing preview Sunday October 20 | Goliath looks vulnerable on Sunday

Goliath up against it at Longchamp

Racing resumes at ParisLongchamp this Sunday for the first time since the Arc meeting, hosting a nine-race card featuring one the horses who would have lit up Arc Day itself had geldings been allowed in the feature event, Goliath, who was last seen at Ascot in midsummer in the King George when getting the better of eventual Arc winner Bluestocking by just over two lengths.

Goliath has done little but improve with every race, so the German-bred four-year-old can probably be excused his two defeats here from three starts, not least given one was on his reappearance, but all the same his King George win was a significant and slightly unexpected improvement in form little more than a month after being put in his place readily by Jura in the Hardwicke.

The most obvious reason for that was not the fast ground, which wasn’t much different than it had been at the Royal meeting, but the sort of end-to-end gallop rarely seen in top-level middle-distance events in Europe these days which saw him return a very smart 123 timefigure.

A repeat of that run might suggest this race should be plain sailing despite conceding weight all round but there are good reasons for thinking it won’t be anything like; firstly, the ground will be very different, forecast to be heavy at the time of writing; secondly there looks no obvious pacemaker so there’s every chance of it becoming tactical; and thirdly, he has had a setback since Ascot, forcing him to miss the Grosser Preis Von Baden, and is now using this race as a preparation for a tilt at the Japan Cup, so I don’t have him down as the 11/10 shot the bookmakers do.

Second in the Timeform ratings is a horse who did run in the Arc, Zarakem, and run well he did in a first-time hood after boiling over a bit at York on his previous outing, finishing sixth at big odds if not quite finding as much at the finish as had seemed plausible 400m out.

He won the Group 2 Prix Harcourt back in May over 2000m here on heavy ground and the intermediate distance here – 2200m – might just be up his street given 2400m in top company just looks to stretch him.

That said, Marquisat arguably has form claims as good as any, ending last season by chasing home Iresine and finishing ahead of both Zarakem and the re-opposing Monty in this same race, and he got back to that level last time in the Grand Prix de Chantilly where he was runner-up and had Goliath over a length back in fourth.

His light campaign and absence since might be either a help or a hindrance given he’s not proven in conditions quite as heavy as forecast here, but he looks a bit overpriced at 7/1.

It would be disappointing if Hamish were to prove good enough to win this at the age of eight after two successive modest runs while nine-year-old Monty has even more to prove and Marquisat’s stable companion Maniatic has plenty to find to find on form but at least has age on his side. If prodded for a selection, I’d plump for Marquisat but I can sit this one out in the circumstances.

Strong UK contingent in Casimir

The two supporting Listed races are both for fillies, the Prix Casimir Delamarre are over 1800m and the Prix Sde Saint-Cyr over 1400m. The Casimir might as well be run in Britain seeing as six of the nine runners are trained here and it’s not an easy one to solve.

The Amy Murphy-trained form pick Miss Cantik has been well below here best in her last two starts even if there is a doubt about the worth of her third place in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes back in May but at least she ought to get her own way in front and the deep ground will be in her favour.

On the contrast Zarabanda has been on the go since May, has shown no signs of a busy campaign given she ran a career best last time out when winning a handicap off a mark of 87 and also has a win in desperate ground at Nottingham to her name.

Karl Burke’s Molten Rock has won on heavy ground but has shown her best form (last two races) on a faster surface and should again get the better of while Al Anoud, who was behind at Yarmouth last time in the John Musker and has never raced on ground anywhere this soft.

Ed Walker’s Rose Prick hasn’t finished any nearer than fifth in two visits to France before and if there is one who will step up it’s surely Tareefa who looked in need of a longer trip after finishing second at Ascot last time and the fourth from that race has already come out and finished a very close second of in a handicap at York.

By Night Of Thunder, heavy ground shouldn’t pose her any problem and she’s bred to win pattern races being a daughter of the 122-rated Ferdoos who won at up to a mile and a half and a close relative of the Pretty Polly winner Nezwaah. The best of the home-trained contingent, on form at least, is Secretive who has a couple of useful efforts to her name this season but blows a bit hot and cold and being by Justify hasn’t encountered ground yet anywhere as soft as is forecast.

Al Anoud’s trainer Ralph Beckett might be up against it with that filly but he looks to have a good chance of landing the Prix de Saint-Cyr with Fair Point who is 5lb clear on Timeform ratings, has yet to finish out of the first three, has a win in soft ground to Chester to her name and comes here on the back of a career-best effort when second to Sirona in a Listed race at Newmarket last time, also on soft ground.

If there’s a slight negative concerning her chance it might be the drop back to 1400m though that worry can also be channelled aimed at her nearest rival on form, Cetera, who was very badly impeded at Deauville two starts back but has turned in a modest effort at Chantilly since.

Cetera herself is 7lb clear of the remainder so this looks theirs to lose, with plenty of the remainder making up the numbers. Hugo Palmer’s Kindest Nation has less to find than most and is proven in heavy ground but has drawn the outside stall, and if there is another who like Tareefa who can step up it’s likely to be Andrew Balding’s Run Away.

She showed an aptitude at this level last time at Saint-Cloud when, the only filly in the field, she finished fourth behind Atlantic Coast. Given that was just her fourth race, the full sister to the Prix Morny winner Blackbear looks sure to improve again and may not have as much to find as it looks on paper unlike Karl Burkes’ Melon Twist who looks a very optimistic runner.

There is also Group action at Deauville on Monday with the Prix des Reservoirs for two-year-old fillies. Best of those on official ratings among those who have them is the home-trained Gezora who finished second to the Charlie Johnston-trained Lazy Griff in the G3 Prix de Conde last time but anyone familiar with Sandtrap’s winning debut at Salisbury last month must have known they’d just seen a potential top-notcher and, with that form already having been boosted, she looks sure to take a serious amount of beating.

Haggas double at Chantilly

Unsurprisingly there hasn’t been much Listed or Group action in France since Arc weekend with just one pattern race and a smattering of Listed races at the tracks in and around Paris, but within them there has been no shortage of British interest with William Haggas landing a double at Chantilly on Saturday last with Sky Majesty in the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte for two-year-olds over 1200m and Yaroogh in the Listed Prix Saraca, also restricted to juveniles but over 1400m this time.

I’ve remarked before this year how inferior the French sprinting juveniles have been behind those brought over from Britain and Ireland but, undeterred, the French punting public sent off favourite the only home-trained juvenile who has managed to win a Group race over five or six furlongs this season, Daylight, who won the Prix de Cabourg (when having the Coventry third Columnist back in third) before finishing third in the Prix Morny and second in the Cheveley Park.

Not for the first time this season at Chantilly, the rail looked to be the place to be, so it’s unlikely that Daylight who raced well off it was much if anything below form back in second, but once Sky Majesty, who’d recorded a 103 timefigure in the Firth of Clyde at Ayr, was launched with her effort on the rail by Christophe Soumillon she responded well and never looked like being caught with Une Pointure (raced closest to her) just getting caught for second late on by Daylight with the pair who raced even wider, Polyvega (looked to hate the heavy ground) and Spirit d’Or, both finishing well held.

A half-sister by Blue Point to the inveterate front runner Democracy Dilemma, it’s unlikely Sky Majesty has aspirations beyond 1200m unlike Daylight or Une Pointure who both shape as if they will be effective at 1400m, possibly 1600m next season, with the former almost certainly to be given a shot at the French 1000 Guineas.

Half an hour earlier, Yaroogh took his form to a new level, albeit not by much, in the Prix Saraca. A narrow winner of a Doncaster nursery on his previous start off a BHA mark of 90, Yaroogh is the third Listed or pattern winner to emerge from the Acomb Stakes at York after Wimbledon Hawkeye and The Waco Kid, with the very holding ground holding no fears for him given he had won in very tacky conditions at Haydock second time up.

Neither of his three previous wins had been by more than a length and three quarters but, one of two horses kept wide of the others by Maxime Guyon, who noted afterwards he was very keen to keep his mount away from the chewed up inside where four of his rivals raced, it was clear from some way out he was going to win easily and he passed the post three and a half lengths clear of Scandalo who had last been seen finishing third in the G3 Prix Francois Boutin behind Cowardofthecounty.

The American-bred Jovialite, who’d won a newcomers race at Saint-Cloud on his debut in September by six lengths, was sent off second favourite but trailed in last. However, he’s a good-moving colt who looked unsuited both by conditions and a pitch on the inside and he’s not a horse I’d be marking down because of this.

There was no British (or Irish) interest in the other Listed race on the card, but it wasn’t short of curiosity as it featured the second start back since the French Derby for Fast Tracker who’d been sent off favourite for that classic after two consecutive wide-margin wins in bad ground in small fields.

Well held there, and given a three-month break after that before running as if the race was needed in the Prix du Prince d’Orange on ground that wouldn’t have been fast enough for him several weeks ago, he ran out a clear-cut winner over a useful field, revelling in the conditions and clearly a smart colt when the mud is flying. Moreover, this run showed a different side to him, clearly as effective held up and asked to pass horses as he had been running them into the ground when campaigned as a front runner earlier in the season. He’s probably got a Group win in him in heavy ground either this season or next.

The previous day at Compiegne, David Menuisier and Jospeh O’Brien had saddled Xiomara and Uluru respectively in the Listed Prix Laffitte for three-year-old fillies over 2000m. As usual at this time of year in France in these fillies only events, a big field assembled, plenty of whom had little chance, but even so Uluru, who earlier in the season had finished third in the Sandringham at Ascot and second in the Prix de Pyche, couldn’t make the most of her form advantage on the very testing ground while Xiomara, who’d won a maiden at Dieppe before finishing third in a handicap at Doncaster off a mark of 81, faced a stiffish task and was another found out by easily the softest ground she’d encountered.

The race went to the rapidly improving Partir from the Jean-Claude Rouget stable with another autumn improver, Galaxie Vega from the Andre Fabre establishment, finishing second.

A two-year-old worth keeping an eye on away from very soft ground going forward is Selenien who, at Chantilly last Tuesday, won his second race from four starts. Both defeats can be put down to very testing ground given how impressively he won on a fast surface on his debut and returned to quicker conditions (on the artificial surface) at Chantilly he showed a rare turn of foot to score by eight lengths that saw his official rating hiked 7lbs or so afterwards.

By Mehmas, he isn’t one that would interest me if seen out again on turf this year, but he looked listed class at least and he’d be an interesting runner in the Listed Prix Zeddaan over the same 1400m on Deauville’s all -weather track on November 3rd.

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