Our form expert previews Sunday's Group 1 Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville.
The Verdict: Sunday August 23
1pt win Kosuma in the 14:50 Deauville at 5/1 (bet365, 9/2 Coral, Ladbrokes)
The Sky Bet Ebor Festival might be over for another year but the Group 1 action continues at Deauville on Sunday with Diamond Necklace bidding to keep her perfect record intact in the Sumbe Prix Jean et Louis Romanet over 10 furlongs.
Aidan O’Brien’s filly looked in superb heart at Glorious Goodwood when running away with the Nassau Stakes and this looks a natural next target for her before her trainer decides whether she is on the path to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe or not.
With his best three-year-old colt Constitution River beaten in the Juddmonte International this week Diamond Necklace is now the Ballydoyle number one in the Arc betting, the St Mark’s Basilica filly the 8/1 second favourite behind Daryz for the Longchamp highlight.
Whether those odds will shorten too much if she wins on Sunday I’m not sure, but it looks unlikely that she will be blotting her copybook in the Romanet as she looks a class above her rivals considering her progress with only a peak form Aventure looking a threat.
Diamond Necklace gets 7lb from the older mare, though, and Aventure hasn’t been at her best this season, so it really does look like a golden opportunity for O’Brien’s unbeaten filly to take her career record to seven from seven.
The other Group 1 on the card is the Sumbe Prix Morny for the juveniles over six furlongs and it looks an excellent renewal with the winners of the Coventry Stakes, Norfolk Stakes, Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and Richmond Stakes all taking each other on.
Great Barrier Reef runs for the first time since the Coventry, but that form has not worked out well so it’s no wonder the winners of the other three are all shorter in the betting.
Both Orthodox and Man’s Best Friend are respected, but both the Norfolk and Richmond were strongly-run contests and the make-up of this race could be a bit of a culture shock.
Amongst the fancied contingent there isn’t any early pace at all with all of them held up in their previous assignments and it could be this is a replica of the Phoenix Stakes where O’Brien’s pacemaker Carry The Flag went off very quickly with Tribeca in hot pursuit.
In the Phoenix the second wave were happy to run at a more even tempo and it resulted in a smooth win for Sun Goddess who picked off her rivals with an impressive turn of pace.
We could have a very similar scenario here with both Carry The Flag and Tribeca set to play the same roles and it could be the winner is the one who shows the best change of gear from the second wave.
Fillies have a good record in the Morny, too, both historically and recently, with Lady Aurelia, Pretty Pollyanna, Campanelle and Venetian Sun winning it in the last decade, so the two to concentrate on are Senorita Bonita and KOSUMA.
Simon & Ed Crisford’s Senorita Bonita was impressive in the Duchess of Cambridge at Newmarket and that form was franked by the runner-up Libertango at York on Thursday, while the stable won this race with Vandeek and they’re in red-hot form.
It’s hard to pick holes in her, but Kosuma looks to have just as good a chance and she’s a bigger price while she also has a course and distance win in her locker after a very impressive victory in the Prix de Cabourg here last time (see YouTube replay, above).
She displayed an impressive change of gear that day to win easily, showing loads of speed despite being bred for much further, and she could benefit if Carry The Flag starts quickly again from two stalls away.
Andre Fabre was the last French trainer to win the Morny in 2019, but he looks to have a good chance of keeping the trophy at home again on Sunday and in the process winning his first Group 1 since being joined on the licence by his daughter, Lavinia.
The Verdict: Back KOSUMA in the 14:50 York
Preview posted at 15:45 BST on 22/08/26
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