American Post an easy winner

American Post cruised to victory in his seasonal debut at Saint-Cloud on Wednesday, serving notice that he has retained the form that propelled him to a pair of juvenile Group 1 triumphs last fall.

In winning the listed Prix Omnium II by four lengths over Joursanvault, American Post, trained by Criquette Head-Maarek, delivered the goods as advertised at skimpy odds of 3-10.

He led under Richard Hughes after three furlongs, and though briefly headed at the top of the stretch by the eventual third-place finisher, Blackdoun, was never under pressure while drawing clear, getting the mile on good ground in 1:43.00.

Owned by Khalid Abdullah, American Post has the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) on May 16 as his first major objective of the year. He could, however, have a Guineas course-and-distance prep in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau at Longchamp on April 25.