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Sunday's Racing Tips: Ben Linfoot’s Deauville Prix Maurice de Gheest preview and selection

Horse Racing

Sun August 09, 2026 · 3w ago

Our form expert has had 13/2 and 11/1 winners in his last two Verdict previews and now he takes a look at Sunday's Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

The Verdict: Sunday August 9

1pt e.w Rosy Affair in the 15:40 Deauville at 14/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4)

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Everything is Rosy for Billy and Boughey

The period between Glorious Goodwood and the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York is much maligned in the UK, but if it’s a Sunday in August, it’s Deauville, and the northern France seaside track keeps the Group 1 roadshow rolling.

This Sunday it’s the turn of the Group 1 ARC Prix Maurice de Gheest over six-and-a-half furlongs, a race with a rich history that was dominated by first Marchand d’Or and then Moonlight Cloud for the brilliant Freddie Head between 2006 and 2013, both horses winning the race three times.

There will be no repeat winner this Sunday with a new cast of stars set to do battle for the £188,810 top prize and with no dominant sprinter in Europe the race has a wide-open feel to it.

True Love heads the betting for Aidan O’Brien and she is the class act in the race by virtue of her Betfred 1000 Guineas success, but she hasn’t quite hit those heights since then and dropping to this distance isn’t guaranteed to unlock her peak.

Indeed, the way she ran over seven furlongs at this track last time out in the Prix Jean Prat is a warning that she could be vulnerable to speedier types over this trip and I’m of the belief a speed-favouring mile is what she really wants.

The outcome of this race will depend on how quickly they go and while True Love probably needs the pace to collapse to show her best there isn’t a whole host of front runners in here to suggest that will be the case.

Billy Loughnane (left) pictured with George Boughey and the Sussex Stakes trophy

Billy Loughnane and George Boughey can strike again

It could be tactical and it could come down to a swift change of gear inside the final quarter mile, a scenario that makes ROSY AFFAIR a fair bet at 14/1 for the George Boughey and Billy Loughnane partnership.

The duo have taken their careers to new heights this season largely thanks to the exploits of brilliant miler Bow Echo, but I’m a firm believer in success breeding success and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the pair unearthed another Group 1 winner from somewhere.

This mare in this race could be the one, as it looks just the sort of opportunity this confident team can exploit and Rosy Affair has shown up well since moving up to this sort of level following her last victory in a Listed contest at Haydock in May.

She ran a superb race in fourth in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot despite being drawn centrally as the first three home came stands’ side, while she was squeezed out on a couple of occasions when again a close-up fourth in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh.

Both of those races were over five furlongs, but she looks better suited to six and if Loughnane can get her settled in a prominent position, like he did at Haydock, she has the gears to make a winning move at the business end of the race.

The ground reportedly has a bit of cut in it, but that won’t be a bother to this versatile mare and she won at the end of the Meeting de Deauville Barriere last August when landing the Group 3 Barriere Prix de Meautry over six furlongs at this track.

I like her draw in stall two towards the near side, as Loughnane should have the space to quickly get her into a rhythm and in a Group 1 that’s there for the taking, Rosy Affair looks a good bit of business at 14/1.