There are very few Group 1 sprints in France for horses three or older – only the Prix de l’Abbaye springs to mind if the Prix de la Forêt (seven furlongs) is not considered a sprint – and the French rarely have any top quality sprinters.
It is not very often that you get a Group 1 race with a field of 15 or more other than Classics, the Arc or a couple of sprints at Royal Ascot. So this year’s Prix Maurice de Gheest (3:07) is a bit of a rarity. The number giving it a try suggests it must be open (on top of there being lots of prize money).
So evaluating the Deauville feature statistically means looking at the ‘foreign’ raiders: the winner is likely to be British or Irish three quarters of the time. Of the home team, it seems easy to draw a line through Classic Flower and Game Run as not good enough. Seven year old King Gold won this last year and won the Prix de la Porte Maillot last time beating Exxtra but the reality is that the runner-up will probably reverse that running here. Puchkine, Havana Cigar and Beauvatier filled the first three places in the Prix Jean Prat over course and distance, the winner being the wrong Rouget horse for punters on the day; however, that was a Group 1 race in name only and all three of them need to find a lot more to win today. Unbeaten Lazzat has obviously been laid out for this having not raced since beating Havana Cigar and Puchkine in the Prix Paul de Moussac in June, so he must be the best hope for the home side. Bellano won a Listed race at Longchamp when last seen in May but this is surely too big a step up. Matilda Picotte ended last season winning the four-runner Challenge Stakes at HQ but has done nothing in two starts this term and could just end up being an inadvertent pacemaker today. Of the British raiders, Saint Lawrence has done nothing in five starts this season (was third in this last year) and the filly Great Generation does not look good enough following up a Group 3 win at this trip with fourth in the six furlong Group 3 won by Flora Of Bermuda at York. Andrew Balding’s filly might eke out a few pounds of improvement here over the extra half furlong and she will need to against the two top rated runners in the field. As they supplemented her the trainer obviously thinks she can. Khaadem defied his years to win back-to-back Jubilee Stakes at the Royal meeting but those two fast ground wins are his only ones since 2022, which leaves just the favourite MILL STREAM, winner of the July Cup when last seen having previously been third in the Jubilee. He is clearly the best horse in the race and won at the track twice last year over half a furlong less, one of them the Listed race on this card.
The horsebox bringing Saint Lawrence was not just carrying him from Archie Watson’s yard. If you are prepared to take his wellbeing on trust, Bradsell runs in the Prix du Cercle (4:17) and looks a bit of a penalty kick with at least 7lb in hand on the official ratings, although he never won first time up last year before victory in the King’s Stand.
The Prix Moonlight Cloud (3:42) – named after the filly that won the Maurice de Gheest back-to-back – features four British raiders but I do not fancy any of them. Louis Barthas was sixth in the Commonwealth Cup at 200/1 but is still a maiden. El Bodon was second in the Greenham but second last in the Jersey and his sole win was at this trip on the kitty litter. Star Music was last in the Fred Darling and the 1000 Guineas for Richard Hughes, fourth in a Listed race for James Tate and has now switched to Ed Walker. So the best chance for the Brits is probably HQ handicap winner No Half Measures, who won easily that day and is now rated 101. There are quite a few of the home team that look to have winning chances. The British bookies favour Jasna’s Secret, who beat Flers, Grand Grey and Symmetric Power two starts ago at Chantilly but was behind Shamrock Glitter (second), Grand Grey and Ten Horns last time over course and distance. The filly Messina is completely out of her depth here and Cavalletti is clearly not one of the better fillies in the Fabre yard. Talentuoso has not been seen since running third in a Listed race in April, so really the form pick here is SHAMROCK GLITTER, third in the Jumeirah Guineas at Meydan, winner of a valuable conditions race after and then the best of the home team when chasing home James’s Delight at the start of July.
