MISTER CHARM IS SMART ON DIRT

MISTER CHARM (39) won the Listed Prix Jacques de Bremond on Deauville's Fibresand track for the second year running. He's clearly very smart on this surface. But he's going to have to go to Sweden to find a decent prize on it in Europe. The big UK AW prizes are now on Polytrack and the other decent European AW races in Germany and France are at too long a distance for him.

Ideally Mister Charm should be racing in America as the dirt surfaces would suit him admirably there.

GREY MYSTIQUE BETTER THAN A HANDICAPPER

GREY MYSTIQUE (36) won an ordinary handicap at Deauville in Listed class time. This three year old filly has now won both times she's run 1m 5f or more and looks capable of earning black type if my ratings are anything to go by. The race I'd be shooting for with her if she were mine would be the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster.

FLASHING NUMBERS LIKES IT FAST

Mario Hofer says that his charge FLASHING NUMBERS (39) prefers firm ground. This certainly seems to be borne out by his form. His only loss in three tries on firm turf was an unlucky half length defeat by Kachgai who I rate one of the better three year olds. He scored again on his favoured surface in the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam, beating Derby second Dragon Dancer (38).

Horses with the turn of foot Flashing Numbers shows here are rarely effective on dirt. So I'm happy to forgive him those two losses in Dubai. On firm turf he's a useful horse, maybe even Group 1.

Dragon Dancer earned the same speed rating from me as he had in the Derby, so I'm inclined to think he's basically a Group 3 horse who is going to continue to be overfaced.

RAIL LINK PROVES HIS CLASS

I gave RAIL LINK (41) a write up here when he won the Prix du Lys last month. I suggested at the time that he was likely to prove a Group 1 performer. He proved that prediction right by winning the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp's big Bastille day meeting.

Clearly Rail Link is one of the best three year olds in Europe and yet another Fabre-trained candidate for future big middle distance races. Fabre incidentally was winning this race for the ninth time in the last eighteen years. That's quite some feat.

Jockey Christophe Soumillon reckons that Rail Link could have won by another three lengths if he hadn't run green. That would make Rail Link quite some horse. As it stands I have him on the same rating as his brilliant stablemate Visindar and rate the pair the two best three year olds in France.

As I mentioned before, it's interesting to note that the brilliant German three year old LAURO beat Rail Link fair and square in one of his two French raids. Lauro also beat SUDAN (40) in his other French race and Sudan ran third in this race, running a seriously fast time.

Sudan is unfortunate to have come across exceptional rivals in each of his last four starts. But he's improving all the time according to my speed ratings and begins to look a very good horse in his own right now. He's the sort of horse that can easily slip under the radar and win a big race at huge odds. I note with interest that he's in both the Gran Premio del Jockey Club and the Arc. I'd fancy his chances in the Italian race and wouldn't dismiss him as an Arc candidate.

RED ROCKS (40) split this smart pair to take second and is also improving steadily on the clock. He'll surely take something decent before the season is over, the most likely race being the St Leger

GRAND COUTURIER (39) had won four of his previous five starts and lost a Group 2 in a three way photo with Bremen and Gentlewave in his sole loss. He ran a close fourth here and still has a very progressive look about him. He's unfortunate to be racing in a country that has a freakishly strong crop of three year old middle-distance colts. For this reason I suspect he'll do better if he's kept in training at four as many of the faster members of his generation will have retired.

EL CAPITANO CAN TAKE HIGHER RANK

EL CAPITANO (37) won a good conditions race at Longchamp over a mile in Listed class time. His only defeat in four starts to date came when he took on Lauro and Rail Link, two of the fastest three year olds in Europe, over ten furlongs which may be a bit far for him. Over this sort of trip I see El Capitano winning in pattern company soon.

BRILLIANT RUN BY STORMY RIVER

I've knocked STORMY RIVER (42) in the past because he failed to run fast times. But a change of tactics has revolutionised this hard-pulling horse. The adoption of the 'out of the clouds' running style so beloved of French jockeys has turned him into the best miler of his generation according to my speed ratings. The short homestraight at Ascot was probably his undoing last time. But the longer finishing stretch of Chantilly enabled him to get up and win the Prix Jean Prat in seriously fast time.

I now rate Stormy River the joint fastest three year old in Europe. He's going to be hard to beat in the Prix Jacques Le Marois next time, though I wonder if he'll be able to show the same form if his connections opt to go for the Prix du Moulins after that, seeing how short the Longchamp home straight is.

Stormy River is now to be rested until the Marois, a race that is surely his for the taking.

Runner-up KENTUCKY DYNAMITE (41) had been tried over middle-distances previously and actually won a decent conditions race over ten furlongs. But that was a very slow run affair. In a more strongly run race over eleven furlongs he clearly failed to stay next time. His jockey told Paris Turf after the race that he felt Kentucky Dynamite is a true miler. He's a smart one too judged by this run. The race I'd be shooting for with him if he were mine would be the QEII. The contest normally goes to a horse that's won at middle-distances and it would probably enable him to avoid bumping into Stormy River again.

Third placed DILEK (40) had won four in a row before this race. But all his wins bar his maiden success had come in tiny fields in tactically run races, so he probably hadn't learned much from them. This may explain why he became unbalanced on the home turn. His jockey said he would have finished closer but for this.

Dilek's previous wins were over 9-10.5 furlongs but this run showed he's effective at a mile. He's entered in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood next month and would be an interesting candidate there.

KENDARGENT (39) ran an improved race to lose a Group 3 by only a head to Kentucky Dynamite last time and confirmed that form with another big run here. He's not a Group 1 horse on the clock but should take a group race sometime this season.

IMPRESSIONANTE (38) who had been unlucky when promoted to second in the French 1000 Guineas showed that she is one of the top 3YO fillies by finishing a close up sixth.

SABASHA IS USEFUL IN MUD

I'd expected a flood of good times from three year old fillies after the near total absence of them in the opening months of the season. There just had to be some good female members of the classic generation and now they're emerging in droves. The latest was SABASHA (37) who won the seven furlong Prix Amandine at Deauville.

Sabasha undoubtedly benefited from the rain at Deauville as her three best runs have now come with cut in the ground. She's probably not going to stay more than seven furlongs either. But, given the weakness of the sprinters in France, I reckon she'll still be worth following – if only in the Autumn when the rains arrive.

Runner-up GRAND VADLA (37) may not be very big, but she is probably the horse to take out of the race. She won on a disqualification on her debut before taking a good Listed race on her only other start prior to this. She's a half sister to Breeders' Cup Mile winner Val Royal, and two more pattern winners up to a mile and a half. So she's probably better over a mile.

OPTARI A SMART JUVENILE

OPTARI (36) won a minor conditions race at La Teste in a time that would be good enough to take a Group race for two year olds. He's now unbeaten in two starts and will surely be tackling a pattern race next time. His dam, Desert Sky, was a smart juvenile herself and stayed seven furlongs. Seeing that he's by Diesis I'd bet on Optari getting at least that far as well.

GOETOT; KING OF THE PROVINCES

GOETOT (38) seems to be almost unbeatable on French provincial tracks. He won on one for the fifth time in six tries when taking a Listed race at Nantes in Group 3 class time last week. His sole loss in the provinces came when he was denied a clear run and got beat a head.

I think Goetot prefers provincial tracks more because they are so tight than for the lesser opposition he faces at them. And, seeing that he's equally good on sand I'd note his name as a likely winner if he makes a raid on a British AW track during the Winter.