Harry Fry’s dual purpose stable star Metier will attempt Group 1 glory in the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp on Sunday.
Known as France's equivalent of the St Leger, the Prix Royal-Oak tends to be an attritional test on autumn ground and has been won by horses such as Subjectivist and Vazirabad in recent years.
"We looked at our options for this time of year and we decided to aim at the Prix Royal-Oak. You would like to think with how the weather has been that conditions would suit," said Harry Fry.
"Obviously, he is going to have to step up again, but he won the Chester Cup the hard way, from a wide draw and coming from way back, when given a great ride by Saffie Osborne, so hopefully there is more to come from him and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in Group One company.
"We have had a handful of runners in France over jumps and things, but yet to bring home a winner, so it would be a great way to break that duck."
Metier is a Grade 1 winner over hurdles and has shown some useful form since switching to the flat, winning the November Handicap at the back end of last season. He relished the testing conditions when taking the Chester Cup on soft ground in May and has not been raced since.
"We haven't seen him out since the Chester Cup success, but we did train him for Royal Ascot on the off chance the ground came in his favour," Fry added.
"Obviously, that was always going to be an outside chance.
"He needed to have a little break having been on the go all last winter, so we gave him a break and then almost immediately the rain started to arrive, which is typical.
"We know him well enough now and what conditions suit and that is why we have waited and bided our time. Hopefully conditions have come right for him and we are looking forward to the challenge."
