Guineas contender on show at Maisons-Laffitte?

Impressive on his only two starts as a juvenile, the Dream Ahead colt was the odds-on favourite for his return to action in the seven-furlong Group Three contest.

It was not all plain sailing to start with for Andre Fabre's charge, with Al Wukair initially trailing the field under Gregory Benoist.

However, once switched wide, the Al Shaqab Racing-owned youngster showed a startling change of gear to run down Group One scorer National Defense and he was well on top at the line.

Al Wukair was cut to a best priced 8/1 second-favourite for 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 6 behind Aidan O'Brien's 6/4 shot Churchill, and connections were quick to confirm the first colts' Classic of the British season as his intended target.

Harry Herbert, racing manager for the owners, said: "I wasn't there myself, but I watched the race and have spoken to the team and he was clearly very impressive.

"He is still a little bit green and there was some ring-rustiness there, but the acceleration he has is so exciting - he has a fantastic turn of foot.

"He does it all so easily at home and is held in very high regard by Andre. He showed signs that he's still an inexperienced horse, which is why Andre was so keen to go to the Djebel with him.

"I think he's a very exciting colt and all being well he'll be aimed for the English 2000 Guineas.

"I would expect him to be much sharper for that, he'll need to be, and we all look forward to seeing him at Newmarket at the start of May."

Fabre, who has won the 2000 Guineas twice before with Zafonic (1993) and Pennekamp (1995), added: "I'm very pleased and he will now go to Newmarket.

"He is a very different horse to Zafonic. He was like a powerful bull. This is a more laid-back horse, but he has a beautiful action and a lot of class.

"I wouldn't say he was green, he was just a little bit flat-footed over the seven furlongs. I think stepping up to a mile will help him."

National Defense had looked every inch a top-class prospect when running out a dominant winner of the the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Chantilly last October.

While he was a shade keen on his return, trainer Criquette Head-Maarek did not make excuses and is not keen on a rematch on the Rowley Mile.

Head-Maarek said: "I don't think there was any excuse - he was beaten by a better horse on that day.

"I think he will improve quite a bit for the run and over a mile he will be a bit better.

"We will stick to the plan and go to Deauville for the French Guineas."

Al Wukair initiated a big-race treble on the afternoon for Fabre.

Double Lady was a hot favourite for the Prix Imprudence, but was upstaged by her stablemate Via Ravenna, who ran out an authoritative winner in the hands of Vincent Cheminaud.

The French maestro completed his hat-trick with Ultra in the Prix Jacques Laffitte.

The Godolphin-owned chestnut rounded off an unbeaten juvenile campaign with victory in the Lagardere in 2015, but raced just twice last season, most recently finishing down the field behind the brilliant Almanzor in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano.

He had far less on his plate in this Listed event and made the most of the opportunity under Mickael Barzalona.

Fabre said: "Via Ravenna is a nice very nice filly and she will go for the French (1000) Guineas.

"Double Lady was disappointing. The pace was pretty slow, which broke her stride, but she was disappointing.

"Ultra won comfortably and I'm pleased with him. He will go to Saint-Cloud on May 1."