Sparan Nua was agonisingly pipped for Group One glory in last month’s Yorkshire Oaks but gets another shot at the top level in Sunday’s Qatar Prix Vermeille on Arc-Trials Day at Longchamp.
Jim Bolger’s star filly came within a whisker of upsetting Kalpana at York and Rossa Ryan is again on board when she takes on a dozen other fillies in the €600,000 contest.
The Vermeille is off at 3.25pm Irish time and is the sole top-flight leg in a trio of trials for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in four weeks. Aidan O’Brien runs his Irish Derby hero Benvenuto Cellini in the Prix Niel (4pm) while defending Arc champion Daryz takes on just three opponents in the Prix Foy at 4.35pm.
Ryan Moore jets to Paris having ridden at Kentucky Downs on Saturday night and although O’Brien runs a trio in the Vermeille, the English man will partner Survie for his Coolmore employers in the race. She was a US Grade One winner last month.
Sparan Nua, in Maurice Regan’s Newtown Anner Stud colours, could face the softest ground conditions of her career to date, although the York performance she put up suggested a test of stamina could be a plus.
Tarnawa (2020) and Warm Heart (2023) have won the Vermeille for Ireland in recent years, while Ross Ryan won it on Bluestocking two years ago prior to the filly landing the Arc. Bolger (84) first enjoyed Group One glory at Longchamp when Polonia landed the Prix d l’Abbaye 39 years ago.
Sparan Nua and Benvenuto Cellini are both as low as 14/1 in some ante-post lists to ultimately secure Arc success on the first Sunday in October. Daryz is a general 3/1 favourite to become the first colt since Alleged (1977-78) to win the Arc back-to-back.
Benvenuto Cellini will attempt to give O’Brien just a second Niel success. He won it in 2007 with that year’s Irish Derby winner, Soldier Of Fortune. The French Derby third, Montreal, joins his stable companion in the 12-furlong heat.
Sunday’s most valuable contest though is the €800,000 Prix Du Moulin (off at 3.25pm) at a mile. Without old rival Bow Echo to cope with, it looks an ideal opportunity for Gstaad to secure a second Group One of the season.
Aidan O’Brien’s colt followed up his Newmarket Guineas second with classic glory at the Curragh before again playing second fiddle to Bow Echo at Royal Ascot and in the Sussex Stakes.
Gstaad has already proven himself a top-notch miler and his biggest threat in the Moulin looks to be Opera Ballo who was third in the Sussex. Ground conditions will be different but the Irish star can deliver O’Brien a third Moulin after Circus Maximus (2019) and Rock Of Gibraltar in 2002.
The only Irish action this weekend is at Navan on Saturday, where the in-form team of Willie McCreery and Billy Lee can land a 10-furlong handicap with Make The Tide. She won over a mile at the track on Wednesday, should relish a step up in trip, and can defy a 7lb penalty.