G3 Prix la Force

Demonstrating a precocity that belies his title, the Wertheimers' Atlast (Fr) (Farhh {GB}--Pitamore, by More Than Ready) mastered more experienced rivals in Sunday's G3 Prix la Force at ParisLongchamp to exit to the sound of Classic talk. Coming into the nine-furlong test with two juvenile runs at Chantilly to his name and one win over 7 1/2 furlongs on the Polytrack in October, the 11-2 shot was content to track the leaders under Maxime Guyon throughout the early stages. Sweeping to the front with 1 1/2 furlongs remaining, the Christophe...

Sunday sees a swing in the momentum towards the more meaningful Flat action of 2024, with Leopardstown--which has to survive an early-morning inspection--and ParisLongchamp staging a host of Classic trials. Ballydoyle's wheels are really set in motion at the former venue, with several of their promising 3-year-olds ready to be unleashed in the card's trio of preps including the 10-furlong G3 P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax S. It is in that early Derby pointer that Rosegreen's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud third Illinois (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and impressive course maiden-winning TDN Rising...

Yeguada Centurion's 3-year-old colt Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}--Hardiyna {Ire}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}), who failed to nose ahead in each of his first three outings, graduated in a Feb. 2 handicap at Chantilly and repeated the dose back there in last month's Mar. 3 Listed Prix Maurice Caillault. Sent forward for a sterner test in Sunday's G3 Prix La Force at ParisLongchamp, he dented a host of lofty reputations with a game performance in the nine-furlong French Derby trial to register a career high. Big Rock...

ParisLongchamp stages a fascinating card on Sunday as the 2023 campaign moves onwards, with the G2 Prix d'Harcourt featuring a Group 1 winner in Bertrand Milliere's Prix Royal-Oak hero Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}). Saddled with a four-pound penalty for his triumph in the marathon test here in October, he has his work cut out dealing with genuine mile-and-a-half performers like Haras de la Perelle and Stephane Wattel's G2 Prix Niel winner Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) and Al Shaqab Racing's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano scorer Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}),...

Etienne and Gregoire Leenders trainee Mister Saint Paul (Fr) (Dariyan {Fr}) took five attempts to shed maiden status as a juvenile, doing so in Deauville's Oct. 20 Listed Prix Isonomy, and came back this term to finish just off the podium in Saint-Cloud's Mar. 19 Listed Prix Omnium II, his most recent outing. Virtually unconsidered as the 217-10 outsider-of-six for Sunday's G3 Prix La Force at ParisLongchamp, he turned the form book upside down and exhibited a tenacious attitude to record a career high in the nine-furlong test. The eventual...

It has been mooted more than one this spring, but without labouring a point it seems clear after the declarations for the racing at ParisLongchamp on Sunday that Messrs Fabre and Peslier are linked again, at least for the time being. France's dynamic duo combine with two major chances in the group races on the fixture, with Lady Bamford's Dreamflight (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the nine-furlong G3 Prix la Force and with Gestut Schlenderhan's returning Mare Australis (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the G2 Prix d'Harcourt over a mile and a...

France's frenzied week of high-class action continues on Thursday, with ParisLongchamp again in action with key trials for the middle-distance Classics. First up is the nine-furlong G3 Prix la Force for the colts, with last year's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud hero Mkfancy (Fr) (Makfi {GB}) looking to build on a solid comeback effort when beaten a length attempting to give four pounds to the smart Waltham (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Listed Prix Maurice Caillault over this trip on Chantilly's Polytrack Mar. 9. This rates as the most serious...