BEHKABAD HAS THE ARC AT HIS MERCY

I've been whittering on all season about how I rate BEHKABAD (42) the best horse in Europe and that he was a good thing for the Grand Prix de Paris. So I would have looked a little silly if he'd been beaten in the big race. Thankfully the horse saved me from embarrassment with a tremendous performance which went a long way towards justifying what I've said about him.

Behkabad's rider decided to ditch his normal pace-pressing tactics in the Prix du Jockey Club due to being draw wide in an enormous field. This time around the field was smaller so he sat on the heels of Planteur's pacemaker Vivre Libre who set a searching pace.

Entering the straight with two and a half furlongs left Vivre Libre fell away and Behkabad was kicked into the lead. But a furlong or so later he looked like a sitting duck as Planteur swept through from the back on the bridle with a perfectly timed move, looking like he could blow by him in a matter of strides.

However it turned out that Behkabad had plenty more in the tank. When Planteur got to him Behkabad produced another surge that broke his spirit and caused him to tire badly enough to wander around. Remarkably, it looked like Behkabad still had something left and could have produced another rally if Planteur had somehow been able to come back for more.

Only a top class horse can produce two big moves in a race as Behkabad did here. And to do so after pressing a searching early gallop was quite something.

I guess it's possible Behkabad could lose the Prix Niel through lack of fitness when he comes back to prep for the Arc in September. But having seen this run I'd be extremely wary of opposing him at mile and a half. As I see it, he has the Arc at his mercy.

Runner up PLANTEUR (41) would have won a normal renewal of the Grand Prix de Paris and was unlucky to come up against such a smart winner. It is worth pointing out though that he lacks the smart turn of foot that's usually needed to win the very biggest Group 1's. This is why he had a pacemaker.

In the Prix du Jockey Club Planteur lost three and a half lengths to Behkabad in the final furlong and a half. Here his jockey and pacemaker gave him every chance but it was always going to be tough for him to come from behind a rival that has shown superior acceleration.

I don't see Planteur turning this form around in the Arc, but that remains his obvious target. I do hope he stays in training next year because he could do very well indeed assuming Behkabad is bundled off to stud like most of the Aga Khan's three year old stars.

JAN VERMEER (39) was held up at the back, tracking Planteur in an obvious effort to mimic the favourite's game plan. He made his run at the same time as Planteur but did so down the inside in and adventurous move that could so easily have led to traffic problems but didn't.

After gaining ground rapidly Jan Vermeer's run flattened out from after the two furlong pole. The first two ran away from him in the final furlong and the strong finishing Goldwaki very nearly caught him for third.

Despite the fact that he's by Montjeu and has reached the first four in the biggest 12 furlong races for 3YO's in Britain, Ireland and France, it's hard to argue against the idea that Jan Vermeer doesn't quite get the distance. This being so it does look a good idea to run him in the Juddmonte International. The ten and a half furlongs of that contest should suit him admirably, and at this stage it's looking like a pretty soft Group 1, one that Jan Vermeer could easily win.

Olivier Peslier certainly earned his fee on board fourth placed GOLDWAKI (39). He had to row his mount along all the way from the start as he struggled to keep tabs on the field in last place. Eventually Goldwaki's stamina kicked in and he charged past horse after horse up the straight, so nearly catching Jan Vermeer for third.

The searching pace and yielding ground clearly helped Goldwaki a good deal here as they put the emphasis on stamina which Goldwaki has in abundance.

Goldwaki lost his sole start at two over an inadequate mile but had won all four of his starts this year at longer trips prior to this smart run.

Goldwaki is a very strong horse that seems to have little in the way of early speed. However he just keeps staying on and has finished all his races out powerfully. His two winning siblings both stayed two miles plus and he's by the smart mile and a half performer Dalakhani. Clearly he has plenty of stamina.

His two best runs have been on his last three starts when stepped up to a mile and a half.

In the first of these Goldwaki had to be stoked up a long way from home to get rolling but eventually did so and powered away in the closing stages, only having to be ridden out hands and heels to score comfortably from Brigantin who had later ran stablemate Lawspeaker to a similar margin.

That race was on soft ground. In the Prix du Lys it was good and despite a moderate early pace Goldwaki had to be scrubbed along a bit in last place. Again he had to be stoked up a long way from home but again got rolling to win going away by a length.

Watching Goldwaki run it looks like he has an almost bottomless well of reserves to draw on that he'll keep on dipping into until he finally gets to the lead in the closing stages - or not as was the case here.

I guess Goldwaki's connections will steer him towards the Arc and hope the early pace is ferocious and the ground turns into a swamp. If he were mine though I'd be taking a long hard look at the St Leger. In this regard it may be significant that the only three French horses to run in the St Leger in the last 22 years were all trained by Goldwaki's handler Andre Fabre.

Fifth placed LAWSPEAKER (37) had earned a rating of 39 from me when winning the Derby du Midi but ran a little below that level here. After moving well in a close fifth early on he came through to be second two furlongs out then tired quite rapidly. It looked like he didn't stay even though he'd won over the distance last time off a strong early pace. Perhaps the combination of cut in the ground and sticking close to a furious gallop fond him out. Or maybe he doesn’t quite get the twelve furlongs unless he's running around a tighter track.

Lawspeaker is a well proportioned, muscular, rather classy looking colt that looks built to produce a decent turn of foot.

On his first start over ten furlongs in March he ran rather green as the race began in earnest up the straight and dropped back to seventh. His jockey only rode him hands and heels from there, though pretty vigorously. In the final furlong he started to get the hang of things and picked up pretty rapidly to be a close fourth. He was moving well and finishing gaining on everything crossing the line.

Next time out in a better race won by Ice Blue, Lawspeaker moved up to be level soon after entering the straight. But his ears had been going all over the place and he had half jumped in the air just before he began his run. He wandered a little and looked disorganised as he slipped back to third, still moving strong at the finish.

Lawspeaker won a minor provincial race after this when stepped up to a mile and a half. But it was his run in the Listed Derby du Midi that at Bordeaux that marks him out as better than he showed here.

In that race the early pace was strong. But he and his useful stablemate Brigantin were able to sustain it up the straight to run away from the rest of the field. Lawspeaker was never in trouble and won a shade comfortably by a length and a half from Brigantin with the rest a further six lengths back in third. He earned a speed rating from me for that put him just a length per mile off the best achieved by Behkabad and Planteur before this race/

It's unusual for a Derby du Midi winner to be a Group 1 horse. But back in 2006 the winner was Grand Couturier who went on to run a close fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris before winning twice at the top level in America. Lawspeaker may yet be able to emulate him.

FUISSE SETS UP FASCINATING 'HEAD TO HEAD' WITH GOLDIKOVA IN MAROIS

Criquette head looks to have found a worthy challenger for her brother's Goldikova in FUISSE (42) who has just romped home in the Group 3 Prix Messidor.

Held up off the scorching early gallop which resulted from his pacemaker getting taken on, Fuisse swept through in the closing stages to cruise four lengths clear and clock a seriously fast time.

Looking at Fuisse you'd never think he'd be fully effective over a distance as short as a mile. He's a great big tall horse with a simply enormous stride. However with the aid of a pacemaker he's been able to win really good races over a mile on his last three starts while clocking very fast times.

Last year Fuisse showed he's Group 1 class by running second of seventeen in the Prix du Jockey Club over ten and a half furlongs. He looks likely to run in the Champion Stakes over half a furlong short of that trip later on this season. Meanwhile he looks a genuine threat to Goldikova in the Marois.

The Messidor, like the Marois and the Champion Stakes, is run on a straight course. This seems to suit Fuisse very well, no doubt due to his huge stride.

It's interesting to note that Fuisse's dam was a useful hurdler and chaser that's produced the steeplechaser First Feerie. He's yet another example of the interesting new French trend of mating jumping dams with flat sires. This has already produced the Group 1 winners Zarkava, Vision d'Etat and Full Of Gold, the latter being a half brother to Fuisse

BLEK THE ONE TO BEAT IN CADRAN

BLEK (40) was impressive when sprinting away by a long looking three lengths in the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil. It now looks clear he's the best stayer in France.

It's hard to read any clear patterns into Blek's form as he's so darned consistent, having won eleven of his nineteen starts. However it does look quite possible that he's best when fresh. That is on his first two runs off a ten week break or with a five week break thereafter. He's won the last six times he's been this fresh and lost the two times he hasn't.

Blek has a seriously good turn of foot for a stayer and was able to produce it here despite the strong early gallop. This bodes well for his big Autumn target the Prix du Cadran where he looks the one to beat.

UN AIR DE SALSA CAN WIN A GROUP RACE

UN AIR DE SALSA (39) is the kind of horse that gives every owner hope. He lost couple of claiming races early in his career and got beat in his first fourteen races. But this season, for reasons I'm not yet able to fathom, he's improved massively. He won three handicaps from four tries, including two valuable ones, the latest under a welter weight. Now he's gone and won a good Conditions race at Longchamp in a time fast enough to take a Group race.

Un Air de Salsa is a close coupled, medium-sized , well proportioned sort that can produce a very good turn of foot. he used it here to sweep down the outside and pick up the second placed Botanique close home. He only won by a neck but was always going to get there once he started his run and ended up winning a shade cheekily. He'll surely be winning in Group company sooner rather than later.

BOTANIQUE (39) is also good enough to win a Group race but all his wins have been on either soft ground or Fibresand. Clearly he needs a surface that isn't jarring. Here he showed his best on ground that race times suggest was yielding rather the official 'very soft' (official going descriptions are often massively wrong in France due to their over-reliance on the penetrometer readings).

Right now Botanique is going to be hard to place as the ground tends to be faster than he wants in the Summer. In the Autumn and Winter he should get a better chance to shine.

DICK TURPIN SHOULD STAY TEN FURLONGS

Until DICK TURPIN (42) won the Prix Jean Prat the only three year old to put together a string of huge early season runs and then win a Group 1 without a break in recent years was Giant's Causeway.

Like Giant's Causeway I suspect the main reason Dick Turpin has been able to keep going so well is that he has stamina for longer than the one mile he's been racing over to date.

Dick Turpin certainly showed stamina to win the Prix jean Prat. He sat third, some way off Altair Star and Lope De Vega as those two went seriously fast in the early stages. Then, as the effort told on those two, he powered clear to win by four lengths, looking as though he could easily have continued for another couple of furlongs.

Until now Dick Turpin has always looked vulnerable to a horse with a good turn of foot. That's why his best form has been off a searching early pace like in this contest. Over ten furlongs this would be much less of a disadvantage.

SIYOUNI (39) and XTENSION (39) both picked up well to come out of the pack and chase the winner to no avail in the closing stages. Of the pair my thinking is that Siyouni has the more scope for improvement. He's already won a Group 1 and is a classy looking animal. He continues to look like he'd benefit from a step up to ten furlongs.

LOPE DE VEGA (32) probably shouldn't have been asked to chase the front running Altair Star as that one was clearly going at an unsustainable pace. Nonetheless it was disappointing to see this dual Classic winner tire so badly to finish last.

It seems to me that the main reason Lope de Vega ran a clunker here is that he was in need of a break. He's a rather narrow, somewhat nervous sort that is probably best when fresh. It's tough to know exactly what he can win as trainer Andre Fabre feels he's too high strung to travel abroad and there's nothing for him locally over ten furlongs at Group 1 level. Most likely he'll continue at a mile when he comes back from a rest as the Prix du Moulin looks his only viable option.

DARYAKANA WOULD HAVE A REAL SHOT IN KING GEORGE

You won't see many Group 1 races more slowly run that this year's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. The field went awfully slow early on. This ensured that the contest turned into a flat out sprint up the homestraight.

They came home almost four seconds faster over the final three furlongs than in the fastest race on the card, the good Tierce Handicap.

In the circumstances it was not that surprising PLUMANIA (14) held on to score by a nose. She has a brilliant turn of foot on firm ground and got first run on her main rivals.

Seeing how well she did in a sprint finish on firm ground here I'd be very interested in Plumania's chances in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. She's Breeders' Cup nominated so there'd be no need to pay a big supplementary entry fee to get her into the race. Her prospects for her next target, the Prix Vermeille will clearly depend on the ground.

Runner up YOUMZAIN (14) came from last entering the straight to very nearly get up on the line. He's amazingly consistent, having reached the first four in 17 of the 21 Group 1 races he's contested. But he does seem to lack that vital something which wins at the top level as he's scored just once in his last twenty outings.

Third placed DARYAKANA (14) has twice won over longer distances and was probably most inconvenienced by the sprint finish. She rallied really well but just went under in a three way photo. I got the impression that if the early pace had been even a bit stronger she'd have stretched her unbeaten run in 12 furlong plus races to six.

Daryakana's trainer says she's best during the Summer and that he hasn't ruled out the idea of running her in the King George. I'd like to see her go for the big Ascot race as it's looking rather a weak renewal at this stage. She's already shown she can win a big international race over 12 furlongs against males. Off the stronger pace she'd surely meet at Ascot I'd give her a real shot.

CELIMENE (13) is a very smart filly with a terrific turn of foot and she used it her to finish strongest of all into fourth place. Trainer Carlos Lerner says he thinks she's fine going around right-handed bends but her record keeps on saying he's wrong.

Celimene has lost all four times she's run around right-handed courses but before her last two starts (both smart runs against Plumania) had won all four times she'd tackled left-handed ones like Saint-Cloud. And although she doesn't hang or go wide it does look significant that the tighter the turn the worse she's run on right handed tracks.

The tightest right handed track Celimene has tackled is Dusseldorf where she ran in the Preis der Diana (German Oaks). In that race she looked to be going okay most of the way. But as they rounded the fourth turn, the one before the final one, she dropped back rapidly from third to fifth place and had to be ridden along vigorously. She held her position until they began rounding the final turn where she fell back even more rapidly. She ended up being allowed to come home in her own time, finishing far back.

Celimene has run well at Longchamp on her two starts this season, finishing close up behind the brilliant Cutlass Bay in the Prix d'Harcourt and the Prix Ganay. But the turn at Longchamp is so big and sweeping many horses are able to begin their finishing run while they're still rounding it.

It could be that the apparent left-hand bias in Celimene’s form is merely happenstance. And she's certainly run tremendously well in her two starts this season around right-handed Longchamp. First time out she ran Cutlass Bay to a length despite needing the run, having missed a lot of work due to the bad Winter according to her trainer. Next time out she was eighth entering the two and a half furlong homestraight in the Prix Ganay, which was not a great position to be because the early pace had been very slow which resulted in a sprint finish in which it took just 22.2 seconds to cover the last two furlongs.

Gaining ground into a sprint finish like that is near impossible, but Celimene managed to improve from eighth to fourth and was still full of run crossing the line. She did the same in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Celimene was a very leggy and immature filly last season. She's still leggy but has strengthened up and grown visibly. It looks like she's improved and she's now shown twice that she can be competitive against males in Group 1 company.

If she were mine I'd be looking at American opportunities for Celimene. Her turn of foot would be a formidable weapon in the slow run turf races they have over there. In fillies and mares races in America she'd be tough to beat.