CORRE CAMINOS RUNS A GREAT TRIAL FOR THE CHAMPION STAKES

Prix Ganay winner CORRE CAMINOS (39) ran a great trial for the Champion Stakes when a close third in the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte off a three month lay-off. He's won his second start following a lay-off the last two times he's been rested and has clearly been specially prepared for the big Newmarket race. Indeed his trainer said he deliberately ran him in this race to get him used to running a mile and a quarter on a straight course. The horse came through the test well and will surely improve markedly for the run. He's already run fast enough to win the Champion Stakes on a

couple of occasions this season and looks the one they'll all have to beat.

The winner MUSICAL WAY (40) is a progressive filly that seems best at ten furlongs. She's won three of the last four times she's run the distance and is capable of winning a Group 1 race against her own sex according to my speed ratings.

MAGADINO JUST KEEPS ON WINNING

MAGADINO (39) won for the fourth time in a row when taking a pretty warm renewal of the Grand Prix de la Région Alsace at Strasbourg. In doing so he earned a speed rating from me that suggests he can win in Group 3 or even Group 2 company. Clealry he's improving and has probably not stopped winning yet.

SLEW BIRD CAN EARN BLACK TYPE

Apprentice races at major tracks in France are normally conditions races that attract horses that are pattern class or close to it. This was certainly the case with the one that SLEW BIRD (37) won in decent time at Maisons-Laffitte.

Slew Bird has now won four of his last six starts and all three times that he's run eight to nine furlongs. He ought to be able to take a Listed race sometime soon.

SPIRIT ONE A PRIX DU JOCKEY CLUB CANDIDATE

SPIRIT ONE (38) clocked a seriously fast time to win the Group 3 Prix du Chenes at Longchamp by half a dozen lengths. He's the best French two year old on this run and should be tough to beat in his next target race the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. Long term he looks a solid candidate for the Prix du Jockey Club. The extra distance should prove no problem as his sire won the race and his dam stayed well enough to place in several hurdle races.

SNAKE DANCER GOOD ENOUGH TO TAKE A LISTED RACE

SNAKE DANCER (37) won a hot Tierce Handicap at Longchamp in a time good enough to take most Listed races. No doubt she'll be tried at that level again soon as she took this by five lengths.

Snake Dancer has won on good ground but does seem particularly well suited to the soft going she encountered here.

THE FOY DIDN'T TELL US MUCH

Slow run races don't tell us much. This was certainly the case with the Prix Foy which developed into a two furlong sprint in which SHIROCCO (25), HURRICANE RUN (25) and PRIDE (25) were separated by a couple of necks at the finish.

The going was firm according to my calculations, so Shirocco did at least bear out his connection's assertion that he doesn't need soft ground. But I do rather wonder whether he'll be at his best for the Arc. Andre Fabre said he wasn't fit for this race and in my experience it takes more than three weeks to get a horse that is noticeably unfit in top condition. I rather suspect that Fabre has his eye on later targets with this one.

I imagine Fabre has similar ideas with Hurricane Run. He knows from experience that the Arc is normally a race for three year olds (after all, five of his six Arc winners were three year olds). He also knows horses change physically from one year to the next and that it's rare for one to be capable of winning the Arc two years in a row. Indeed only one of the last ten horses to attempt the feat has succeeded.

I'd bet that in his heart of hearts Fabre knows his best chances of winning the Arc lie with Rail Link. That's why he's given Shirocco and Hurricane Run such light campaigns – in order to keep them fresh for the big late season international prizes like the Canadian International, Japan Cup, Breeders' Cup and Hong Kong Cup where older horses have the edge.

Pride is clearly a very smart mare. Like her two rivals she has been lightly campaigned this year and looks set to be a big player in the big international races to come.

RAIL LINK STILL ON TRACK FOR THE ARC

RAIL LINK (28) continues to look like the horse they all have to beat in the Arc following his success in the Prix Niel. He showed there that he doesn't need a strong pace to produce his best by managing to outkick YOUMZAIN (28) who has a serious turn of foot.

I thought that Rail Link's old rival Sudan (26) was nailed on to run second. By beating him for the runner-up spot Youmzain put up a very decent performance. If he were mine I'd be thinking in terms of the Canadian International. But the main thing to take out of the race is that Rail Link has previously run as fast as any three year old in Britain, Ireland or France all season and had an ideal Arc prep here.

It's worth bearing in mind that nine of the last eleven times Prix Niel runners have gone on to contest the Arc they've provided the winner of the big race. And the winner has always been the horse that scored in the Prix Niel or the one that started favourite. Rail Link was favourite and he own of course, and he looks the one to beat in the Arc to me.

GETAWAY LOOKS A LIVE CONTENTER FOR THE PRIX CHAUDENAY

GETAWAY (38) just keeps on winning. In fact, if he hadn't lost in a photo over an inadequate ten furlongs on his racecourse debut he would have won all five of his starts to date. The latest of these was in the Group 3 Prix de Lutece over 1m 7f at Longchamp.

Getaway has a very nice pedigree (he's a half brother to the smart fillies Guadalajara and Guadalupe) and, as a lightly raced three year old, still has the scope for further improvement. He looks a live contender for the Prix Chaudenay over the same course and distance at the Arc meeting and looks set to develop into one of France's top stayers.

MANDESHA NOT THAT SMART

The French fillies are a weak bunch this year. So Mandesha (37) didn't achieve much when winning the Prix Vermeille in moderate time for a Group 1 race. Okay she's passed the post first five times in a row, but against the stronger foreign opposition she'll probably face in the Prix L'Opera next time I wouldn't fancy her chances. And I regard the idea of supplementing her for the Arc as little more than a fantasy. She wouldn't have a prayer in that race on my ratings.

ACTS OF GRACE LOOKS A GOOD THING FOR THE PRINCESS ROYAL STAKES

ACTS OF GRACE (40) showed tremendous improvement to quicken away from a decent field when stepped up to a mile and a half at Chantilly. The run marks her out as a good thing for her intended target, the Princess Royal Stakes at Ascot.

Runner-up FIRST CHARM (39) showed improved form. She hasn't done too well over hurdles but had won two of the three previous times she'd run eleven furlongs or more. This being so it seems likely that it was the extended distance that brought about the improvement.

BLEUE DOLOISE LOOKS A MARCEL BOUSSAC CANDIDATE

Everyone was raving about the performance of Visionaro (19) at Longhchamp last Sunday. But the two year old that ran the best time on the card was BLEUE DOLOISE (36) who earned a Group class speed rating from me to take the debutante's race for fillies.

Bleu Doloise was given a sympathetic ride by Thierry Jarnet who only rode her out with hands and heels to beat a field of very well bred rivals with an impressive turn of foot.

Trainer Alain Bonin noted that Bleu Doloise had been improving on the gallops and that she is still a baby because she is such a late foal (May). He didn't outline any plans for her but must surely have in mind the Marcel Boussac at Longchamp's Arc meeting.

Bleu Doloise is a full sister to last year's Group 3 Prix D'Aumale winner Sirene Doloise out of a dam that has now produced eight winners from nine foals to race. It looks like she'll be emulating her sister and winning in pattern company soon.

DID LIBRETTIST STEAL THE MOULIN?

A study I carried out a while ago suggested that Frankie Dettori was one of the very best riders in tactically run races. And I rather suspect it was his skill that gave victory to Librettist (34) in the Prix du Moulin.. He must have sensed the early pace was slow and sent his mount on after two furlongs before kicking on in the last couple of furlongs and holding off his rivals in a sprint finish.

Godolphin racing Manager Simon Crisford noted that Librettist is well suited by the French style of racing. I assume he was referring to the fact that many French races are slow run. Certainly Librettist's last three wins in France have all been in slow run races. The horse has never earned anything better than a Group 3 class speed rating from me. So if he takes up his engagement in the QEII, which is invariably a very strongly run affair, I'd bet against him with some confidence. If he were mine I'd skip that race and focus on the Breeders' Cup Mile in America where turf races tend to be slow run like they are in France.

STORMY RIVER (34) finished strongly to lose by just half a length. My speed ratings indicate he is the best miler in Europe. So I'm convinced he would have scored if the pace had been stronger. Stormy River is equally effective over seven furlongs, so I see him as the one they all have to beat in the Prix de la Foret which is his next target.

MANDURO (33) flew late after again meeting traffic. He's been doing well at a mile but I rather think he needs to be stepped back up to a mile and a quarter if he's going to gain that elusive Group 1 win. Newmarket's Champion Stakes looks the obvious objective. If he goes there I'd give him a favourite's chance

HOLLYWOOD STARLET LIKES THE MUD

HOLLYWOOD STARLET (36) won a conditions race at Clairefontaine in a time that would be good enough to take a Listed event. It looks likely that it was the heavy ground that improved her. In this regard it's interesting to note that she also won the only time she ran on Fibresand, a surface that also takes the advantage of acceleration away. This being so I suspect we'll be seeing Hollywood Starlet win again within the next few months as there's plenty of soft ground around and plenty of meetings on the Fibresand at Cagnes, Pau and Deauville from November onwards.