Back from the brink of retirement following her G1 Champion S. victory at Ascot in October, Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is the next A-list celebrity to step into the limelight in 2020 as she gets reacquainted with top-flight action in Sunday's G1 Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh. Ballydoyle's high achiever has a stunning record at this venue, having won four of her six starts here including last year's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup by seven lengths and generally is tough to beat in her native country as she proved when taking Leopardstown's G1 Irish Champion S. in September. She is joined by stablemate Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who has the benefit of an outing having been second in the course-and-distance G2 Mooresbridge S. June 12.
If Magical is not at least near her top level, Jessie Harrington could be set to take advantage with Jon Kelly's 3-year-old Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who gets a 12-pound weight-for-age swing. She showed her quality at two when taking the G3 Flame of Tara S. over a mile here in August before finishing fourth in the G1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in October.
Acting as support to the feature is the G2 Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands S. and Denis Hogan's Make a Challenge (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) bids to cement his place at the forefront of the domestic sprinters. He looked in a good place when taking the Listed Sole Power Sprint S. over five furlongs at Naas last Saturday and has shown enough to suggest he is at least a match for the June 20 G1 Diamond Jubilee S. fifth Speak In Colours (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}).
Also on Sunday, Godolphin's Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) bids for a third top-level success and a first in Europe having been found an ideal opening in a tepid renewal of the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. On a card in which the operation's TDN Rising Star Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) looks to get back to winning ways in the G2 Prix du Muguet, the Charlie Appleby-trained 5-year-old meets the May 31 G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly winner and June 14 G1 Prix Ganay runner-up Way To Paris (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and last year's second Ziyad (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). Old Persian can be hit-and-miss, but on his best day he is near the international elite as he proved when taking last year's G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and the GI Northern Dancer Turf S. Rejuvenated after a break having signed off with a poor 11th in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, the stalwart will probably not find a softer Group 1 anywhere in Britain, France or Ireland this year.
“Old Persian enjoyed a nice winter off out in Dubai after doing a lot of travelling last year,” Appleby said. “It was a disappointing run at the Breeders' Cup, but it came at the end of a long season and the way the race panned out didn't suit him. He has been freshened up for hopefully a nice European campaign over the summer and we have been pleased with his preparation. If he brings his A-game, he will be very competitive.”
Persian King was beaten on his keenly-anticipated return in the Listed Prix de Montretout over a mile at Chantilly June 10 and the Muguet looks a good fit for last year's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero and G1 Prix du Jockey Club runner-up. Standing in the way is the talent of Gerard Augustin-Normand's impressive G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil winner Pretreville (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}), who had last year's G2 Prix Dollar and G2 Premio Roma winner Skalleti (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) five lengths back in third in that May 18 Chantilly contest. Jean-Claude Seroul's Skalleti has a four-pound swing here and has that sharpener under his belt, while Persian King's trainer Andre Fabre also pitches in Lady Bamford's G3 Prix Chloe winner Suphala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) to ensure this is a proper test for his Classic hero.
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