William Haggas saddles two runners on Longchamp undercard with Crack Of Light taking 'logical next step' in Prix Malleret
William Haggas hopes course-and-distance experience will stand Crack Of Light in good stead when she faces four rivals in the Group 2 Prix Malleret (7.12).
Anthony Oppenheimer's homebred daughter of Kingman won the Listed Prix de Thiberville at Longchamp last month, while her third in Newbury's Fillies' Trial on Lockinge day has since been boosted by winner Warm Heart going on to land the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot.
"It’s a big step up in class but this is the logical next step," said Haggas. "She'll probably end up favourite and I hope she can justify that."
Yorokobi was a length and a half adrift of Crack Of Light in the Prix Thiberville and has been supplemented by Philippe Decouz, as has Andraste by Francis Graffard.
The card concludes with the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil (8.25) over 1m6f, where Henry II Stakes winner Roberto Escobarr will attempt to put a disappointing effort at York behind him against a clutch of France's best stayers, a race which also features Bronte Cup winner River Of Stars for Ralph Beckett.
Haggas said: "I’ve no idea what happened at York last time but he’s a very hard horse to place. I thought this looked a hard race."
The Good Man: 'you can set your watch buy him' says trainer Stephane Wattel (right)
Stephane Wattel has elected to stay closer to home with The Good Man, who had been under strong consideration for the Goodwood Cup.
"I don't want to put the mockers on him but he is incredibly consistent," said Wattel. "That actually made it harder to go to Goodwood because if he had underperformed in a tough assignment there, I would know that I'd left behind a race in which he was more certain to run well."
Sober carries a 3lb penalty, having just got the better of The Good Man in the Group 2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier, while Skazino returned to the winner's enclosure last time in the Prix Moskowa.
Stepping up significantly in grade will be Gargarin's Moon, who starred in one of the most bizarre races of the season when opening up an unchallenged 25-length lead in a conditions race at this track, one which was never threatened by any of his pursuers and which was immortalised for the English-speaking world by commentator Ian Bartlett.
Trainer Georgios Alimpinisis does not expect Sylvain Ruis to get away with a repeat of those tactics. He said: "When he arrived with us he took time to recover from a number of issues and I hope now he is back to his best. He's a decent horse and he enjoys this distance but the level of competition is much higher and we'll be more conservative on him. This is a real test for him."
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