Our French expert is back to preview today's Saint-Cloud action as he looks to continue his blistering tipping form.
Graeme North Saint-Cloud tips
1pt Bay City Roller in 1.55 Saint-Cloud at 5/1 (General)
Group One action is back in France this Sunday and though the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud has attracted only five runners, three of them - Calandagan, Goliath and Aventure - are, in my opinion, among the top five older horses in Europe, so we’re set for a fascinating clash.
June has been open season for bashing French challengers in the Aga Khan colours with both Calandagan in the Coronation Cup and Zarigana in the Coronation Stakes getting their attitudes questioned after close second-place finishes.
Successive second place finishes naturally invite accusations of weakness but, at least as I see it, there has been a legitimate excuse for Calandagan each time – he was set too much to do in both the Juddmonte International and the Sheema Classic, notably giving City Of Troy far too much of a head start in the ordinarily-run Group One at York yet posting faster finishing fractions despite a wide trip, found himself boxed in on the inside at Ascot in the Champion Stakes and then bumped into what might well be the best middle-distance horse in Europe in the Coronation Cup where he once again gave the winner a two lengths head start and pulled much further clear of the high-class Giavellotto than he had in the Sheema Classic.
As I wrote in my Watch And Learn column after the Derby meeting, I doubt there’s a horse in Europe who could do to him what Jan Brueghel did while also noting that he hasn’t encountered fast ground since last year’s Juddmonte International, which he should get today. It strikes me too that Mickael Barzelona, who is in his first season as the retained rider for the Aga Khan Studs and who offered the opinion after the Coronation that he was just outstayed, has taken longer to adapt to his new role than might have been expected, so there is the prospect he still has more to give.
Calandagan isn’t the highest rated horse in the Grand Prix; officially, and as Timeform see it, that accolade goes to Goliath who beat the subsequent Arc winner Bluestocking by two and a quarter lengths in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot last summer and after a couple of substandard efforts in the Japan Cup and the QEII Cup in Hong Kong roared back to life in La Coupe at Longchamp last time where he made the running and won readily, with another of today’s rivals Iresine back in fourth.
That was a weak contest, however, with Iresine well below his best and the runner-up Grand Stars leaving her previous form behind, and if he’s to show his best - his King George effort came off the back of a strong end-to-end gallop - he’s likely to have to cut out the running himself as he did last time.
On her previous start, Grand Stars had finished third behind Aventure in the Prix Corrida here over 2100m. That race didn’t show the tail-flashing Grand Stars to best effect given she was held up behind Aventure and found some interference in the straight, but Aventure won readily, the last to come off the bridle and was at no point asked for maximum effort. That was her second win this year having previously won a 2000m Group 3 at Longchamp (when she also had Grand Stars behind) and given her only defeats at 2400m have come in the Arc, when perhaps the recipient of a less-than-ideal ride, and the Prix Vermeille, both at the hands of Bluestocking, she’s arguably less scenario-dependent than Goliath. I’m prepared to give Calandagan another chance but can pass him by at 11/8.
The supporting card is a little bit underwhelming to be honest but the only other pattern race on the card, the Group Three Prix Eugene Adam for three-year-olds over 2000m, is a fascinating contest in which none of the six runners can be ruled out entirely.
The Aga Khan Studs are represented here with Daryz, unbeaten in three races, rapidly on the upgrade and impressive last time out when leading 400m out and drawing further clear with every stride in a steadily-run listed event at this trip at Longchamp, eventually scoring by four and a half lengths. The runner-up that day, Poschiavo, had previously been third to another of today’s runners Dumonet in a listed race at Bordeaux that turned into something of a burn-up in the very short home straight and probably should have won given the wide trip he endured, covering nine metres more that the winner according to the tracking report, so for all he’s got a good turn of foot and is improving, Dumonet has some more progressing to do if he’s to be there at the finish.
Timefom’s highest rated horse (113) in the race is Scorthy Champ who won the National Stakes at the Curragh last year when French 2000 Guineas winner Henri Matisse was back in second. He’s not cut much ice this year but in his defence he’s run in two very hot races, the 2000 Guineas and the Irish 2000 Guineas, finishing seventh behind Ruling Court in the former after taking a keen hold and then running little better when sixth behind Field of Gold at the Curragh. By Mehmas, this looks something of a fact-finding mission, however, given most of his entries further into the summer are at around a mile.
1lb behind him on 112p in the ratings is Parachutiste, who was last seen running in the French Derby where he finished tenth, just over a length behind another of today’s runners, Sinileo, who finished eighth and is rated 108p. Given that he has had just two races so far and Parachutiste has had three, there’s a valid argument that Sinileo might be open to a bigger amount of improvement, and he certainly looked green on the descent into the home straight at Chantilly before staying on well towards the end.
That said, he was well drawn in stall four whereas Parachutiste had to forego a good early position given his draw in 17 which led to his rider Oisin Murphy dropping him right out at the rear. The official tracking data showed that only one other horse – fifth-placed Azimpour – ran a faster final 600m and that despite losing a length on Sinileo in the final 200m, Parachutiste is worth the benefit of the doubt for now that he’s the better of the pair.
The field is completed by perhaps the most interesting contender, Bay City Roller, who won the Champagne Stakes on the final of three unbeaten efforts as a juvenile and returned with second spot behind the smart Opera Ballo (who was receiving 5lb) in the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown.
By New Bay out of a mare who won at a mile and a half and is a half-brother to the smart handicapper at today’s trip, Botanical, Bay City Roller (111) runs here in preference to the Coral Eclipse next week and bids to give trainer George Scott his first winner in France after near misses by James Garfield and Seven Questions from just five previous forays there.
At a general 5/1 he looks well overpriced to me – with improvement guaranteed trying 2000m and having posted near enough the best form anyway, I’d price him up at 11/4.
Story was best filly in French Oaks
The three British raiders in the French Oaks two weeks ago ended up filling three of the last six places but in second spot was Aidan O’Brien’s Bedtime Story who couldn’t get the better of Prix Saint-Alary winner Gezora but struck me as the best horse in the race.
Drawn in the widest stall as she had been in the Marcel Boussac last autumn – she also had many more drawn inside her than outside on her reappearance in the French 1000 – Bedtime Story was unsurprisingly ridden with plenty of patience seeing it was her first time at the trip and she’d taken an age to settle in the 1000 but her finishing sectionals (albeit those for the winner Gezora weren’t published) were much faster than any of her rivals from an unpromising position and suggest she’d have won comfortably granted a fairer draw.
Her close relative Content, who is by Bedtime Story’s sire Galileo, took off when she was stepped up to a mile and a half last season, winning the Yorkshire Oaks, and Bedtime Story looks a good bet to win a good race at that trip too before long, possibly the Irish Oaks for all that may be the next port of call too for Minnie Hauk who runs in the same colours.
If there was one other horse to take away from the meeting, I suspect it was Agile who finished second in the listed Prix Pawneese over 2400m. She might be six, but she’s still lightly raced having only started racing as a three-year-old and the evidence of her two starts this year is that not only has she come back better than ever but she’s still improving.
Set a ridiculous amount to do on her reappearance at Longchamp, she was also towards the rear at Chantilly in a race that developed into a sprint and though she didn’t finish anywhere near as fast as the erroneous finishing sectionals attributed to her by the official tracking data, she was in front strides after passing the post.
Suited by a good pace – she won two handicaps at the end of 2023 – Agile looks a few pounds better to me than her current official rating and ought to be able to win a Group Three before long, not least if she is given the chance to tackle 2600m or further which she might well be at Deauville this summer.
Another French horse to keep an eye on is Egiategia who was third earlier this week in the listed Prix Hampton behind Spartan Arrow who on his previous outing had finished second in the Dash at Epsom.
What was notable about Egiategia’s effort, which was her first at the minimum trip surprisingly, was that she stayed wide then kept on strongly in the middle of the track, never the place to be at Chantilly where a position near to either rail is preferable, tactics which had seen her win a handicap on the same track back in April.
In between, Egiategia tried to keep tabs on Lazzat in the Prix Servanne, tactics which unsurprisingly backfired as she finished a length and a half behind Monteille who subsequently won the Group 3 Prix du Gros-Chene next time out at big odds as predicted in this column. By and large, French sprinters don’t tend to be the most consistent so I wouldn’t necessarily be following her next time out, but she’ll be worth a second look at some point this season when put back over 1200m from a favourable draw (Longchamp is another straight track where high numbers are typically disadvantaged).
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