THE big event at Deauville tomorrow is the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest over an extended six furlongs in which five British runners will be challenging the July Cup winner Anabaa.
Anabaa, the Criquette Head sprinter that has made a remarkable transition from rightoff to Group One winner, is unbeaten in five starts this term and looks certain to start favourite.
The Head family pet continues to go from strength to strength and on July Cup form has little to fear from Ed Dunlop's Iktamal (fourth) and Neville Callaghan's Dane hill Dancer (fifth), the respective mounts of Willie Ryan and Ray Cochrane.
More problematic could prove David Loder's Group One winning filly Blue Duster (Pat Eddery), while Young Ern (Richard Quinn) from the Simon Dow yard deserves respect on the evidence of last year's close second. Brian Gubby's Easy Dollar (Thierry Jarnet), however, appears to have it all to do.
The other De Gheest runners are Miesque's Son, A Magicman and Poplar Bluff.
Rae Guest has declared My Emma, with Cash Asmussen up, for the Group Three Prix de Psyche (10f) at Deauville today which has drawn a field of five. Barry Hills has secured the services of Olivier Peslier for Alessandra in the Listed Prix de Thiberville (1m 4 1/2f) on the same card.
. Laura Shally, the trainer at the centre of the Mr Sox affair will be interviewed by John McCririck on Channel 4 Racing at Newmarket today. The producer of today's programme, Mark Jackson, said yesterday: "John McCririck will be interviewing Laura Shally between 4.0 and 5.0 on tomorrow's programme."
Mr Sox, the horse whose fall led to the death of jockey Richard Davis, has been the subject of newspaper reports suggesting the gelding had been running with a pelvic injury.
Those reports were vehemently denied by Shally and vet Robin Kernohan. Shally's stable has also been in the news following the deaths of three horses alleged to have been poisoned this week.
