Saint-Cloud today

the big race in France today is the Group One Criterium International for 2yo´s over a mile at 14.35 at Saint-Cloud. This has attracted a very strong field, including 3 British runners - Rerouted (Barry and Michael Hills), Pisco Sour (Hughie Morrison/ Jimmy Fortune) and Abjer (Clive Brittain/ Richard Hills), all with good form, but we expect the prize to go to Ireland via Aidan O´Brien´s Roderic O´Connor (Johnny Murtagh). The son of Galileo was an excellent runner-up to the top-class Frankel in the Dewhurst Stakes last time, and this is clearly the best form on offer. The best of the French could be Godolphin´ s unbeaten French Navy (André Fabre/ Maxime Guyon), but Ziyarid (Alain de Royer-Dupre´/ Christophe Lemaire) and Salto (Freddie Head/ Olivier Peslier) are also respected, while Maiguri must prove that his second place in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere was no fluke.

The main supporting feature is the Group The Prix Perth over a mile at 15.40, where there could well be a German winner, as Alianthus (Jens Hirschberger/ Adrie de Vries) comes into the race in top form, having won similar events at Cologne and Düsseldorf. The front-runner is well suited by soft ground and will make them all go today. Unfortunately the Cologne event was a Group Two, so that he has a 2 1/2 kilos penalty, but we still expect him to run a big race. Ex-German Kali (Miriam Bollack-Badel/ Stephane Pasquier) also has a penalty, having won the German 1,000 Guineas, but she has not run since her excellent second place at Chantilly in early June. More dangerous could be Rajsaman (Head/ Davy Bonilla), Skins Game (Jean-Claude Rouget/ Ioritz Mendizibal) and the two Godolphin runners Colonial (Mikael Barzalona) and Royal Revival (Guyon), both trained by Fabre. Usbeke, the other German-trained runner, looks out of his depth here while Forthemllionkiss is a non-runner.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Ballet Move - Shareta - Ensemble
2. Race: Modern History - Wonder Charm - Pareo
3. Race: Roderic O`Connor - French Navy - Havane Smoker
4. Race: Marendinio - Aristote - Zimri
5. Race: Colonial - Rajsaman - Alianthus
6. Race: Armanty - Timelord - Italian Wizard
7. Race: Delta Black Sheep - Kalti Rose - Chamouille
8. Race: Question d`Or - Tout En Bleu - Thalamon