There’s Group One action in France today in a hot renewal of the Prix D’ispahan, this year run at Chantilly as its usual home of Longchamp is being redeveloped.
Arc-third New Bay makes his seasonal return and looks the class horse in the race, but trainer Andre Fabre has sounded caution after the torrential rain that’s passed through northern France has left conditions testing.
Whether he has the stamina to get home on seasonal début in those conditions is the gamble, and at a best price of 5/2 I’m not willing to bet he will.
I’m hesitant to back any of the reappearing horses for that reason, so Mondialiste and Erupt are hard to like either.
Rather, Dubai form has been working out well this season and, with fitness assured, Dariyan has to have a big chance on his fourth run this season, having twice finishing behind the classy Postponed in the middle east and most recently landing Group One honours in the Prix Ganay last month.
He was last off the bridle in the Ganay and quickened like a class horse from the reopposing Silverwave, who can be backed at a much bigger price of 16/1.
4/1 seems a very fair price for Dariyan.
However, Andre Fabre’s other runner, VADAMOS, looks the bet at 6/1.
Fabre has sounded caution about his ability to handle the soft ground, but he looked really good last time out in landing a Group Two at Saint Cloud, with three-times Group One winner Ervedya well beaten in second.
That was on good-to-soft ground so he handles it okay on that evidence, and this being his fourth run already this season – he too ran in Dubai and finished a very creditable second to superstar miler Solow on his reappearance at Chantilly – also gives him a fitness edge over a few of today’s rivals.
The two dark horses in the field are Clive Cox’s impressive Sandown winner My Dream Boat, who was 20/1 in places last night and is now a best priced 10/1, and Group One Hong Kong Cup winner A Shin Hikari from Japan.
The former’s price has gone – though the market support is certainly positive – and it’s just impossible to know how the latter will handle the conditions in France, particularly as he hasn’t run since December and probably runs here as a prep for later summer targets.
This is probably high on Vadamos’s list of seasonal targets, so he looks the one to be on.
1pt win Vadamos @6/1, 13:50 Chantilly, Tuesday
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