A Super Sunday to set the stage for the Deauville Barrière Meeting

Deauville Racecourse is set to host its first major summer racing weekend this Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July. Sunday’s card promises to be a high-class affair, offering a tantalising preview of the upcoming Barrière Meeting, which kicks off on 2 August.

Headline act of the day: the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, which boasts a particularly strong field this year. Nine contenders will line up for this elite international clash for 3-year-olds over 1,400 metres. Among them is the intriguing The Lion in Winter (Sea The Stars), trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien. Supplemented for the race (his connections paid an additional fee to enter), he brings an unorthodox profile to the table: a recent runner in the Group 1 Epsom Derby, he’s dropping dramatically in trip from 2,400m to Deauville’s 1,400m straight — a rare and bold move at this stage of a career.

From the UK, Cosmic Year (Kingman) brings strong Classic form, having finished second in the Irish 2,000 Guineas (Group 1) at the Curragh — Ireland’s season-opening Classic. Another serious contender is Shadow of Light (Lope de Vega), trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin. He was a Group 1 winner at two (Dewhurst Stakes, Middle Park Stakes) and finished third in the English 2,000 Guineas this spring — an outstanding CV, featuring nothing but Group 1s.

Flying the French flag will be Woodshauna (Wooded), recent winner of the Group 3 Prix Texanita and owned by American-based Resolute Bloodstock. Other home hopes include Silius (Dubawi), runner-up in the Group 3 Prix Paul de Moussac, Daylight (Earthlight), a Group 1 runner-up at Newmarket at two, and Maranoa Charlie (Wootton Bassett), a triple Group 3 scorer who’ll be making his first start in the silks of new owner Bond Thoroughbred Ltd.

Also on the Sunday card is another black-type highlight: the Group 3 Singapore Pools Prix de Ris-Orangis, featuring some of the turf’s most popular and enduring sprinters. These include the battle-hardened Tribalist (Farhh), a three-time Group 2 Prix du Muguet winner and Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp hero, as well as Beauvatier (Lope de Vega), already a Group 3 winner, the evergreen Batwan (Kendargent), and the consistent National Service (Elusive City), all of whom continue to deliver with age.