Ryan Moore thoughts on his 2 rides in France on Sunday afternoon.
Excelebration and Havana Gold
You get the impression that everyone who has been avoiding Frankel all season has turned up for the Marois at Deauville on Sunday, as I haven't seen a mile race with so much depth for a long while.
Nine of the 11 in here are Group 1 winners, and Caspar Netscher has won three Group 2s.
So I honestly can't tell you what will win this race. A lot will depend on how the race is run, but horses can run well in here and only finish fourth or fifth.
At least my horse, Excelebration, won't be chasing Frankel's tail today.
And he tends to win when he isn't asked to - his form figures when Frankel isn't against him are 411111 - so I have to be hopeful of a good showing. I also think he has the best single piece of form in the race, namely his second in the QEII last year, though his Lockinge run this year wasn't far behind. People forget what a genuine Group 1 horse he is.
Cityscape will benefit from the drop back to 1m and he could possibly be the horse to beat if returning to the form of his Dubai win, where he was hugely impressive. But maybe the travelling has taken the edge off him and I don't think you can be confident of anything in this race.
Moonlight Cloud makes a quick reappearance after his stroll in the Gheest last week, and the Rothschild 1-2 Elusive Kate and Golden Lilac clash again. Golden Lilac has been slightly disappointing on her last two starts, but the very soft ground wouldn't have helped at Newmarket and the steadily run race over course and distance last time may not have been ideal, either.
I can see her running a big race, but the problem is I can say that about five or six.
Earlier in the card I ride Havana Gold. He holds entries in some of the better two-year-old races at home later this season, and I was on board when he won on his debut at Newmarket and he went on to win nicely over 7f at Ascot last time. I like him.
Let's hope he can keep his unbeaten record stepping up in class in this listed race. It's good to see that Timeform have him top rated for the race.
Give everything but up!
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