It’s an equine Ladies Day this afternoon so it is only appropriate that one of the top female performers in modern times, Treve, looks set to put the males firmly in their place in the featured Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
This looks a rare opportunity to sum up a Group One race in a line: if a peak-form Treve shows up on her first foray out of France, then everything else, including Magician and the other Irish hope Parish Hall, are fighting for second. It really looks that simple – on paper.
It’s hard to make any logical case for opposing the French superstar. Unbeaten prior to her first four-year-old start, a narrow defeat to a race-fit Cirrus Des Aigles on unsuitably deep ground in April’s Prix Ganay, was hardly a disaster but with that under her belt, and the going ideal, then this should Treve’s.
Frankie Dettori is in the plate aboard the star performer at his favourite track but this is all about the horse.
Treve put up one of the all-time great Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winning performances last October.
That officially made her the world’s top-rated horse but anyone believing the drop in trip to a mile-and-a-quarter today will find a chink might do well to remember how she beat the course record in winning the French Oaks from Chiquita who subsequently landed the Irish Oaks.
Treve’s acceleration “If she is relaxed and there is another horse to carry her for a long way in the race, I hope then she can use her turn of foot,” said trainer Criquette Head-Maarek
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Magician and The Fugue will clash again after their memorable Breeders’ Cup duel went the way of the Irish horse while another Breeders’ Cup winner lining up will be Dank. But Treve looks to be in a different class.
Three of the card’s six races are devoted to the fairer sex and a trio of Irish fillies will tackle the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes where Guineas heroine Sky Lantern has to concede weight all round. Willie McCreery’s Fiesolana gets just 2lbs, as does Certify who brings a touch of intrigue to proceedings.
The two-year-old champion of 2012 hasn’t run since being beaten in February but previously looked to have retained a lot of the latent class she showed at two.
Eddie Lynam's Anthem Alexander should be a major player in the Queen Mary while of the eight Irish runners lining up for the Jersey a case can be made for Big Time representing the best value.
