NEWMARKET BAGS FRENCH GOLD: English raiders won the big-two Group-1 races at Longchamp yesterday, Newmarket trainers taking the Gold Cup (George Scott with Caballo De Mar) and the Prix de Royallieu (Sir Mark Prescott with Consent). Karl Burke scored a treble in England with Al Qareem, Fallen Angel and Native Warrior.
Daqman Saturday: LAYS LOGIC 2-2
WON (7th 3-1 favourite) BEDTIME STORY (Longchamp)
WON (2nd 5-2 favourite) COLTRANE (Longchamp)
ARC-DAY TRIUMPH FOR O’BRIEN: Daqman predicts a glory day for Aidan O’Brien in the Arc, the Marcel Boussac and the Lagardere.
HAUK CAN HOVER AND SWOOP
⭕ 3.05 Longchamp (Arc de Triomphe) Aidan O’Brien’s faith in super-sub Christophe Soumillon is put to the ultimate test today.
The 10-times French champion, who is 0-13 in the last two weeks, must now deputise for the injured Ryan Moore from the dreaded one stall in the Arc.
1: Minnie Hauk Enable apart, Frankel’s daughter Minnie Hauk must be the best filly in Europe since Zarkava, ridden in all her races (7 from 7) by Soumillon, incredibly taking the Arc from the same stall 1, the last to beat the hoodoo.
How did he do it? Soumillon and O’Brien must have been pouring over the video ever since today’s draw was made.
Is it an omen that Minnie Hauk who, like Enable, has won four consecutive Oaks, drew the number-one stall at the Curragh in the Irish Oaks.
Soumillon must ease her back off the front end as Moore did then, though not too far back; she is not used to big fields and has no experience of deep ground since breaking her maiden a year ago.
2: Aventure (Maxime Guyon) The Arc has had a recent spell of seven out of eight wins for fillies and mares and Christophe Ferland’s Aventure was beaten little more than a length by Ralph Becketts’s marvellous mare Bluestocking last season (Los Angeles third and Sosie fourth), booking her place today by beating Gezora in the Vermeille trial.
3: Byzantine Dream (Oisin Murphy), who beat Sosie in the Foy trial, his only experience of soft ground, is drawn very wide in 15 but Murphy won on the Japanese raider over 1m 7f (Riyadh in February), so stamina assured for the end-game.
4: Kalpana (Colin Keane) Runner-up three times in a row, including in the King George, but won the Champion Fillies and Mares title at this time last year on soft. Trained at Andrew Balding’s top yard in Britain numerically this season with 174 winners.
5: Gezora Ridden by Soumillon to win the French Oaks but now the mount of yesterday’s Gold Cup hero, Tom Marquand.
Her trainer, Francis-Henri Graffard, top in France with 131 winners, also saddles Quisisana (Alexis Pouchin), unbeaten in her last four starts including the Group-1 Romanet, a new fillies test.
A third Graffard runner, lightly raced Daryz, son of an Arc winner, is the mount of Mickael Barzalona.
6: Cualificar (Willam Buick) is trained by eight-times Arc winner, Andre Fabre; won the Niel trial and second to Camille Pissaro in the French Derby. But Fabre has Stephan Pasquier on Sosie.
Betdaq Betting Exchange 4.7 Minnie Hauk, 7.4 Aventure, 15.5 Byzantine Dream
DIAMOND O’BRIEN SPARKLER
⭕ 12.40 Longchamp (Marcel Boussac 2yo fillies) Diamond Necklace is expected to sparkle here from gate 3. Stalls 2, 3 and 4 win this half the time and the principal opposition, Green Spirit, is locked in from the one stall.
It’s Christophe Soumillon for O’Brien needing to keep in Maxime Guyon for Christopher Head. Both fillies unbeaten, with Green Spirit very highly regarded.
The May Hill winner, Aylin (drawn wide in 9) is by the same sire as Diamond Necklace and trained Karl Burke, who landed the Morny with Venetian Sun.
WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE…
⭕ 1.15 Longchamp (Lagardere 2yo colts) England (Rosallion for Richard Hannon) and Ireland (Camille Pissarro for Aidan O’Brien) have won this with future Classic winners in the last two years.
And the French front the market today with Group-3 winners, Nightime and Rayif, against Group-2 scorer, Puerto Rico for O’Brien.
Puerto Rico is by Camille Pissarro’s late sire, Wooton Bassett, and like Camille Pissarro he comes to this with places only in the top flight at home, hence the better offers.
46.0 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER
⭕ 1.50 Longchamp (Abbaye) Afjan (coming out of 10 today) won here from 2 on very soft ground in August but that’s the limit of the draw.
Double-figure stalls beyond 10 are a real problem for English raiders Against The Wind (13), Jm Jungle (14) and First Instinct (18) among others.
Stalls 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 are eight out of 10, with three-year-olds 5-10, which is a double boost for Ain’t Nobody for the Kevin Ryan stable, winners of the Abbaye twice already.
Ain’t Nobody’s sire loved heavy ground: 46.0 on BETDAQ this morning. Asfoora (3) won the Nunthorpe on firm; her career took off in Australia on the soft but connections are not hopeful.
TAMFANA TAKES LONG WAY
⭕ 3.50 Longchamp (Opera) David Menuisier, who landed the Dahlia for this column with Ashariba at Sant-Cloud on Friday, won the Sun Chariot (1m) with Tamfana when the 12f Opera was the alternative, after she ran fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris (1m 4f).
A year on, and he’s made the reverse choice, booking Colin Keane to do the job on the heavy-ground winner who is so lightly raced.
The danger must be Joseph O’Brien’s runner-up to Minnie Hauk (Irish Oaks), Wemighttakedlongway, whose best form is on the soft.
WAIT FOR IT! ZARIGANA NAP
⭕ 4.25 Longchamp (Foret) William Haggas won this three years running but More Thunder has looked good on top of the ground and has a wide draw (16).
Zarigana showed an awkward head carriage in the Coronation Stakes but that may have been the firm ground and her French 1,000 Guineas is the best form on show.
DAQMAN’S BETS on Betdaq Betting Exchange
12.40 Longchamp (win 16)
BET 9pts win DIAMOND NECKLACE
BET 2pts win AYLIN
1.15 Longchamp (win 20)
BET 5pts win PUERTO RICO
1.50 Longchamp (win-50 bulls-eye bets)
BET 3.5pts win AFJAN
BET 1.2pts win AIN’T NOBODY
(2pts to win 12 a place)
3.05 Longchamp (win 22)
BET 6pts win MINNIE HAUK
BET 3.25pts win AVENTURE
BET 1.5pts win BYZANTINE DREAM
3.50 Longchamp (win 20)
BET 4pts win TAMFANA
BET 4pts win WEMIGHTAKEDELONGWAY
★ 4.25 Longchamp (win 33 nap)
BET 8pts win ZARIGANA
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