After a busy five days at Glorious Goodwood, attentions turn to France for the 6½f Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on Sunday.
In the last ten years, UK and Irish trainers have been responsible for six winners and boast a strong team again. The top three in the market all hail from Yorkshire, led by current favourite Art Power representing the Tim Easterby yard. The grey gelding has been a consistent player at the top level over sprinting trips in the last two seasons and was dropped back to five furlongs for an easy win in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh on his latest run. This will be the six-year-old's first run in France, and he will face heavy going for the second time in his career (second at Doncaster on heavy in November 2022).
Karl Burke is double-handed with Cold Case and Spycatcher with the market struggling to split the pair. The trainer is a familiar face in France, having raided some valuable prizes in the last year and Spycatcher picked up the Group 3 Prix de Ris-Orangis at Deauville at the start of July. The experience on French going (officially soft for the Prix de Ris-Orangis) will be a positive if conditions continue to worsen and he has looked an improved horse since a gelding operation at the start of the year. Proven form over seven furlongs is an additional bonus if the ground turns attritional.
The three-year-old Cold Case was a three-time winner as a juvenile including the Listed Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar in October. He returned with a comfortable victory in the Listed Commonwealth Trial Stakes at Ascot but was cited as hating the ground when beaten twenty lengths in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock Park subsequently (good to firm). The son of Showcasing looked better when beaten half-a-length behind experienced campaigner Commanche Falls at Newbury last start and may continue to improve.
King Gold is the leading hope of the French, trained by Nicolas Caullery. He has been racing exclusively over seven furlongs at Longchamp in four starts since the middle of February, picking up a valuable win in the Group 3 Prix de la Porte Maillot. The contest is the traditional French trial race for the Group Maurice de Gheest with horses including Marchand d'Or, Moonlight Cloud and Marianafoot using it as a stepping stone before contesting and winning the Group One. The six-year-old's career profile does suggest that a Group 1 victory may be a step too far.
Dual Wokingham Stakes winner Rohaan has arguably been struggling to make the transition to the very top level, despite a third in the Group 1 Sprint Cup Stakes at Haydock last season. Trained by David Evans, the gelding has failed to finish in the placings this season, but softer ground could be the key to success. He won the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes in 2021 on heavy going and must be respected.
WIN: SPYCATCHER
PLACE: ROHAAN
