Audarya could be vulnerable in Prix de l'Opera, one of five Group 1s on Arc undercard
Audarya, winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, is the name in Sunday’s Prix de l’Opera most recognizable to American racing fans. And because of that she may be a vulnerable parimutuel favorite that American bettors can oppose.
Audarya’s failure to win any of her 2021 starts isn’t an indictment of her form. She was a close second behind Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner Love in her season’s debut and ran below form in her second start, but bounced back to finish second by a nose in her most recent race, the Group 1, 1 1/4-mile Jean Romanet on Aug. 24 at Deauville.
Third in the 2020 Opera, which was won by Arc favorite Tarnawa, Audarya fits Sunday’s spot cozily enough, but not appreciably better than longer-priced horses. And the expected sodden course conditions could throw the Opera wide open.
Fifteen older fillies and mares were entered in the 1 1/4-mile Opera, part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, as are four other Group 1s on this card. The Opera winner gets an automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Filly and Mare Turf plus travel expenses to Del Mar, and Audarya’s connections have that race in mind again.
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Grand Glory beat Audarya by a nose in the Romanet and is one of many plausible winners of the Opera. Frankie Dettori rides the mare, who has Italian connections, and Grand Glory’s record racing with give in the ground suggests she should be taken seriously.
So should the German shipper Palmas, who has made only three starts and won all of them. Off a debut maiden victory and a narrow listed-stakes success, Palmas stormed to a six-length win in the Group 1 German Oaks, an 11-furlong contest Aug. 1 at Dusseldorf. She hasn’t raced since and has started only on “good” ground, but Palmas looks very talented and has pace to stay close to the front.
Perhaps the more rain this weekend the better for longshot Incarville, a course-and-distance winner over very soft turf in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary this past May. Last October, Incarville won twice at Longchamp when the turf was rated “heavy,” and she will be underrated following a fifth-place finish in the Prix Vermeille.
Also entered are Thundering Nights, who nearly won the New York Stakes in June at Belmont, and Joan of Arc, the French Oaks winner in June, but neither filly is likely to suit Sunday’s course conditions.
Prix de la Foret
The seven-furlong Prix de la Foret is the only Group 1 Sunday at Longchamp not part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, but more likely than not it will yield a starter or two for the BC Mile. The great Goldikova won the 2010 Foret before her third BC Mile victory.
There are no Goldikovas in the Foret, but 4-year-old Sagamiyra has six wins and two good losses from her last eight starts and rates a strong chance. Sagamiyra, who sports an encouraging wet-course record, comes into the Foret after a close second while giving seven pounds to high-class 3-year-old filly Mother Earth in the one-mile Prix Rothschild at Deauville. On Sept. 12, she won the seven-furlong Prix du Pin, her Foret prep, and with Space Blues taking betting action, Sagamiyra should offer fair win odds.
Space Blues, in from England for trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, loves seven furlongs but probably will be less fond of Sunday’s course condition.
Also worthy of note are Duhail, who has been mentioned as a BC Mile starter, and Speak of the Devil, who has finished just behind Sagamiyra in her two most recent races.
Marcel-Boussac/Jean-Luc Lagardere
Trainer Andre Fabre stands a decent chance of sweeping the pair of Group 1 races for 2-year-olds on the Arc undercard.
In the Prix Marcel-Boussac for fillies over one mile, Fabre sends out Raclette, strongly favored in antepost wagering. Less well supported by fixed-odds bettors but still a live contender in the one-mile Jean-Luc Lagardere is Ancient Rome, a three-time winner from four starts.
The Marcel-Boussac is a BC Challenge race linked to the Juvenile Fillies Turf, while the Lagardere winner has automatic fees-paid entry into the Juvenile Turf.
Ancient Rome finished second in his debut but since has won three in a row. In July he handled heavy going at Deauville, and a stretch to one mile Sept. 7 at Longchamp in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes posed no problem for this War Front colt. England shipper Ebro River already is a Group 1 winner while the Aidan O’Brien-trained Stone Age carries the silks of breeder and co-owner Peter Brant.
Raclette, a Juddmonte homebred by Frankel out of the American racemare Emollient, could be a budding star for Fabre after a pair of wins to start her career. She does cede experience to Agartha, a good second in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes on Sept. 21, the most recent of her seven starts this season.
Prix de l’Abbaye
Glass Slippers was beaten a neck over heavy going in the 2020 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp and stands a solid chance of winning the five-furlong, straight-course dash on Sunday.
The Abbaye is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race linked to the BC Turf Sprint, which Glass Slippers won last fall at Keeeland. The Ireland-based mare has raced only twice this season, finishing third in both starts.
The first of them, the Qatar Stakes at Goodwood, was won by 3-year-old filly Suesa, antepost favorite for the Abbaye and a horse campaigned by the American owner and breeder George Strawbridge.