Rouget and Head aces set for crucial French Derby trial in Prix de Guiche

Classic trials fall in and out of fashion but there is little doubt the Prix de Guiche (2.33 Sky) is enjoying a purple patch as a stepping stone to the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club in a little under four weeks.

Staged over a furlong and a half short of the Jockey Club trip, and the only Group race for three-year-olds staged at Chantilly in the build-up to the Classic, the Guiche has become one of the favourite routes for Jean-Claude Rouget, the acknowledged modern master of the French version of the Derby since it was reduced in distance 18 years ago.

He has specialised in using the intermediate 1m1f trip as a stepping stone for horses who made their comeback in a trial for the French Guineas. Both Almanzor (2016) and Vadeni (2022) ran respectably over a mile in the Prix de Fontainebleau before completing the Guiche/Jockey Club double, and the similarities with the way Rajapour has been campaigned are difficult to avoid.

Rajapour steps up to 1m1f in the Prix de Guiche

After this year's Fontainebleau, in which Rajapour finished third, Rouget was confident the colt would strip a lot fitter if asked to stay at a mile in the Poules d'Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas).

But with stablemate Valimi winning his trial for the Poulains, Rouget and the Aga Khan elected to split the pair up and Rajapour – a son of Almanzor and unbeaten in three starts at two – looked as though extra distance would be as much of a help as having shaken off the rust of winter.

Rouget's insistence that all his Classic aspirants would need their first start of the year is further illustrated by Padishakh, who runs in the colours of Nurlan Bizakov and was a well-beaten second in the Prix La Force over this trip at Longchamp in early April.

He has two and a half lengths to find with Big Rock, who was race fit from two wins on the all-weather. The Rock Of Gibraltar colt been a revelation for Christopher Head in the early part of the campaign and his long stride will set a very fair target for the closers if he adapts to the rain-softened ground.

Big Rock and Aurelien Lemaitre after the Group 3 Prix La Force

"He has already won a Group 3 and the idea is to use this as a springboard for the Jockey Club. That is when the real pressure will be on," said Head. "I was obviously pleased to see Greenland win at Saint-Cloud, showing that the form of the Prix La Force is good."

Head added: "I think he's tactically versatile and if someone wants to go on, Aurelien [Lemaitre] could follow them, but his best results to date have come from being positive from the off."

Flight Leader is unpenalised for his narrow Group 3 win in the Prix Noailles on what was also his return to action, although Andre Fabre will be aware that Londoner did little for the form in the Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday.

The ground at Chantilly was officially soft (3.7 on the penetrometer) on Monday but the forecast is for up to another 20 millimetres of rain on Tuesday.

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