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Raiding party heads Opera runners

Potential raiders from Britain and Ireland dominate the entries for the Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp on Sunday.

Tapestry winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Fillies' Group 1)
Tapestry winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Fillies' Group 1) Picture: Pat Healy Photography

Half of the 18 fillies confirmed for the mile-and-a-quarter Group One hail from this side of the Channel, with Aidan O'Brien's Chicquita, who remains a possible runner in the Arc on the same card, joined by Yorkshire Oaks-winning stablemate Tapestry.

Joe Murphy's stable star Euphrasia and the Dermot Weld-trained Blandford Stakes heroine Tarfasha are also in the mix for Ireland.

The British challenge includes James Fanshawe's runaway Prix Jean Romanet winner Ribbons, John Gosden's Nassau Stakes scorer Sultanina, the Charlie Hills-trained Just The Judge and Roger Varian's pair of Hadaatha and Princess Loulou.

There is a similarly strong raiding party among 19 confirmed for the Prix de la Foret.

Tom Hogan's pride and joy Gordon Lord Byron clinched the seven-furlong Group One in 2012 and will bid to regain his crown, while O'Brien's sole remaining contender is Darwin.

Varian's Aljamaaheer, Richard Hannon's duo of Olympic Glory and Night Of Thunder, Richard Fahey's Garswood and David O'Meara's prolific Custom Cut are also in contention.

Weld's Pale Mimosa is among 10 stayers confirmed for the gruelling Prix du Cadran, with Andrew Balding's Whiplash Willie, David Lanigan's Biographer and Fanshawe's High Jinx other possible runners.

The two Group One prizes on offer for juveniles are the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Prix Marcel Boussac.

The Lagardere appears a particularly enthralling contest, with John Quinn's Coventry Stakes and Prix Morny hero The Wow Signal set for a return to France.

His 11 possible rivals include Hugo Palmer's star two-year-old Aktabantay, Varian's Belardo and O'Brien's pair Gleneagles and War Envoy.

Charlie Hills also has a couple of potential runners in Aces and Dutch Connection, while Criquette Head-Maarek's unbeaten colt Full Mast adds further spice.

Jessica Harrington's Jack Naylor has won her last three starts and is set to test the water at the highest level in the Boussac.

O'Brien has Found and Together Forever down to run, while Eddie Lynam's Agnes Stewart, so impressive in Doncaster's May Hill Stakes, is another major hope for the Irish.

Hannon's pair Osaila and Marsh Hawk, Mick Channon's Malabar and Brian Meehan's Montalcino make up the British contingent.


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