Willie McCreery could have found an ideal scenario for his high-class filly Vespertilio to secure Group One glory in France on Sunday.
Deauville’s €400,000 Haras d’Étreham Prix Jean Prat is a seven-furlong contest for three-year-olds that has seen recent Irish success with Aidan O’Brien’s Tenebrism (2022) and Laws of Indices scoring for Ken Condon in 2021.
The Prix de la Forêt at Longchamp over Arc weekend is Europe’s only other top-flight seven-furlong event open to three-year-olds and up.
The trip can be something of a specialist event, demanding sprint speed be extended, but it looks like being just what the doctor ordered for Ireland’s sole hope in a race due off at 3.07 Irish time.
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Winner of last year’s Debutante Stakes, and runner up in the Moyglare, Vespertilio overcame a wide draw to finish third to Rouhiya in May’s French 1,000 Guineas before failing to fire in the Irish Guineas.
“The ground went too soft for her in the Curragh, and I probably should have taken her out. She moves so well on good ground, and she just can’t handle it soft.
“It’s quick in Deauville at the minute so hopefully they don’t get any thunder showers.
“I’ve always had it in my head that seven furlongs is her trip, the way she won the Debutante and ran a cracker in the Moyglare. I think she’s sharper and in time I wouldn’t mind coming back to six,” McCreery said.
Billy Lee travels to Normandy to ride at the track where he memorably won the 2019 Prix Jacques Le Marois on Romanised. He was also on board McCreery’s only Group One winner to date, Fiesolana, in Leopardstown’s Matron Stakes 10 years ago.
Kathmandu, runner-up in the French Guineas, is one of the handful of fillies taking on seven colts in the race. They include Kikkuli, the half-brother to Frankel, who was just edged out by Haatem in Royal Ascot’s Jersey Stakes. Ryan Moore rides him.
On a busy domestic weekend programme, apprentice jockey Jack Cleary has an enviable book or rides to look forward to at Naas on Saturday.
They include Swagman in a two-year-old maiden while Democracy could successfully concede weight in the following conditions event. He endured a less-than-smooth passage up the straight on his last start at Fairyhouse behind Booyea. The latter put a sheen on that effort by scoring at the Curragh last Sunday.
