ParisLongchamp Sunday

2.50 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Group 1)

(3yo Colts & Fillies) 1m 4f

Serpentine, Aidan O’Brien’s Investec Derby hero, is one of a number of stars on show at ParisLongchamp tomorrow and heads a 10-strong field, including two of his stablemates, for the Group 1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris.

Taking place two months later than usual because of Covid, this mile and a half three-year-old contest brings together some of the leading players from those that contested the English, French and German Derbys.

Serpentine had everything go right at Epsom, going clear at an early stage without having to use up too much petrol.

Given his subsequent 10-week lay-off and consequent potential for rustiness, there is no guarantee that he will confirm that form with English King, Mogul and Highland Chief, who were all more than six lengths adrift while finishing fifth, sixth and 10th respectively.

Those three unplaced Derby runners clashed again in the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, with Mogul coming out on top of Highland Chief and English King, and the order between two of them was reshuffled in the Great Voltiguer at York when Highland Chief took second and Mogul third.

Alongside Serpentine and Mogul, the third Ballydoyle contender is Nobel Prize, bred to be good as a full-brother to Highland Reel and Idaho, but the very narrow winner of a weak-looking Group 3 at Dundalk two months ago and not seen since.

The Prix du Jockey Club form is represented by its fifth and 11th, Port Guillaume and Gold Trip.

Unraced as a two-year-old, Port Guillaume was one of the least experienced members of that field and was the only horse able to make late inroads from the rear in a slowly-run race.

He has since landed a Group 2 with consummate ease and is another member of trainer Jean-Claude Rouget’s high class band of three-year-olds.

The French-trained German Derby winner, In Swoop, has also been declared and is no forlorn hope.

He was tenderly ridden when third to Gold Trip in a Group 2 at Lyon Parilly in the spring and should at least overturn that form.

An intriguing contest and Port Guillaume is taken to continue his progression at the main expense of English King, who may have failed to give his best on undulating courses on each of his last two starts.

SELECTION: PORT GUILLAUME

Next best: English King

3.35 Qatar Prix Vermeille (Group 1) (3yo+ Fillies & Mares) 1m 4f

Jean-Claude Rouget has been adamant in recent weeks that the Sea The Stars filly, Raabihah, is one of the best horses that he has ever trained and he will start to look foolish if she is unable to open her Group 1 account in the Qatar Prix Vermeille.

That is not to suggest that this will be an easy assignment. The bulk of her locally based rivals may not be up to much, but there is a strong raiding party from Ireland, including the Irish Oaks champion, Even So; and Dermot Weld’s Shamardal filly, Tarnawa, a four-time pattern race scorer.

Raabihah suffered her one and only defeat when inexperience and a wide trip caught her out in the Prix de Diane, though she was still only beaten by half a length.

She has since barely broken sweat in landing the Group 3 Prix de Psyche and can take this en route to a crack at those other superfillies, Love and Enable, in the Arc.

With the Irish Oaks form looking dubious, Tarnawa could prove the best of the Irish.

However, Grand Glory, a high-class filly who was denied a clear run at a crucial stage in the Group 2 Prix de Pomone last time, could be the one to chase Raabihah home.

SELECTION: RAABIHAH

Next best: Grand Glory

4.10 Qatar Prix Foy (Group 2) (4yo+) 1m 4f

Anthony Van Dyck is a second Aidan O’Brien-trained Investec Derby winner on the card.

With the seven-time Group 1-winning stayer, Stradivarius, and June’s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud hero, Way To Paris, also part of a small field for the Qatar Prix Foy (a race which is often used as little more than a conditioning gallop prior to the Arc three weeks later) bets should probably be kept to a minimum.

That said, Anthony Van Dyck had Stradivarius two and a half lengths adrift on their respective seasonal debuts when filling the places behind Ghaiyyath in the Coronation Cup so, though that race was run at a much stronger tempo than this is likely to be, he could come out on top again here.

Way To Paris is likely to be in need of the run after a two and a half month lay-off and it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if Skyward, a recent Group 3 winner at Deauville, made his superior fitness and willingness to go all-out for victory tell.

SELECTION: ANTHONY VAN DYCK

Next best: Stradivarius

A dual top-level scorer as a juvenile, Earthlight lost his unbeaten record when only fourth behind Space Blues in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last month.

He can return to winning ways in the €56,000 Group 3 Qatar Prix du Pin, though two visitors from England and Germany, Tammani should make a race of it.

Not for the first time in recent years, France is lacking a top-class sprinter at the moment.

Maybe Francis Graffard’s Wooded will transform himself into a leading candidate for next month’s Prix de l’Abbaye by making a successful drop back to five furlongs in the €56,000 Group 3 Qatar Prix du Petit Couvert.