Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud

the Curragh is not the only track staging a top Group One race today - in France the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud for older horses over 2400 metres at 15.45 CET is one of highlights of the summer. The big question here is the performance of Youmzain (Mick Channon/ Richard Hughes), at 7 the oldest horse in the field, and with almost 5 million euros in prize-money to his credit, the biggest earner. However most of this money has come from his three second places in the "Arc", and a feature of his career is that he rarely wins these big races, but is usually placed. His career record reads 6 wins from 31 starts, and 15 places. He won this race in 2008 and was a close third last year, and if in the right mood, could score again, but somehow we doubt it. He finish behind High Heeled (John Gosden/ William Buick) when 4th in the Coronation Cup last time, but we feel that the 3 French-trained 4yo fillies could be more dangerous. The Aga Khan´s Daryakana (Alain de Royer-Dupre/ Christophe Lemaire) won her first 7 races, including the valuable Hong Kong Vase, and met her only defeat when third to Plumania (Andre Fabre/ Olivier Peslier) and Celimene (Carlos and Yann Lerner) over a slightly shorter trip here in May. She now meets them on better terms, but we would still not be surprised to see Plumania, whose trainer continues in tremendous form, beat her again.
There are quite a few German-trained runners on the undercard at Saint-Cloud, but they mainly face a difficult task in large fields. In our opinion El Vettorio (Christian Sprengel/ Blanche de Granvilliers), in the claiming race for lady amateur riders at 17.00, has the best chance of winning.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Dardor - Timelord - Armanty
2. Race: Brampour - Lancelot - Zack Hall
3. Race: Shamanova - Lady`s Purse - Peacoat
4. Race: Airwoman - Dream Youn - Lost Soldier Three
5. Race: Youmzain - Daryakana - Mores Wells
6. Race: Nayef Al Khalidiah - Cambrydge - Damis
7. Race: Kibaar - El Vettorio - Sledmere
8. Race: Vernazza - Miss Reel - La Barquera
9. Race: Courthouse Steps - Gyrona - Slipshod