With the going at Longchamp described as “very soft”, the form book can probably be thrown out of the window for the Poulains and Pouliches this afternoon.
The one blot on the copybook of Poetic Flare was the Dewhurst, when he was well and truly out with the washing. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and that form does now look as bad as it did at the time. He (tenth, won Guineas), Chindit (ninth, won Greenham) and Tactical (eleventh, won Free Handicap) are the only horses that has run since and won.
As Kevin Manning has ventured to Paris, Poetic Flare will presumably be ridden as he was when successful, sitting near the pace. Dewhurst winner St Mark’s Basilica is a spare for Ioritz Mendizabal (Pierre-Charles Boudot suspended), so presumably he will have watched Frankie’s Newmarket ride and will be holding him up towards the rear to come with a run in the straight. In the absence of a huge raiding party, I expect the race to be the usual French married man’s gallop, so will the Bolger ace have already flown before the O’Brien contender gets on the scene? Clearly Archie Watson’s Greenham runner-up Mehmento is well regarded but the ground is an unknown and his two facile wins at Southwell tell us little.
With Miss Amulet out of the Pouliches, the raiding party is down to two and the obvious one is Guineas winner Mother Earth, if you are prepared to overlook her record on soft ground (thrashed in the Fillies’ Mile, three thirds and a win in a five runner Naas sprint). Ralph Beckett’s Lullaby Moon definitely will go on the ground having won the Redcar Two Year Old Trophy in the soft and the Prix Miesque at Chantilly on easy ground; and at the prices I would rather be on her to beat the home team. That said, I can see this staying in France but I would not be touching Philomene as connections are priced in.
My idea of a fair bet at Longchamp is in the Listed race (12:58), where the disappointing Tropbeau should be opposed, not with the other Fabre runner Queen Of Love but Mikel Delzangles SAGAMIYRA, owned by the Aga Khan and stepping up from handicapping to a listed race looking for a four-timer.