Capri getting year started in Alleged Stakes

A classic prep in France and the 4-year-old debut of dual classic winner Capri in Ireland highlight the Friday flat-racing slate in Europe.

Capri won the Irish Derby over no less a tiger than Cracksman and later in the season captured the English St. Leger Stakes before ending his year with a dud in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, where he finished 18th. Capri, trained by Aidan O’Brien, gets his 2018 campaign started Friday at Naas in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes over 1 1/4 miles.

Spring barely has sprung in Ireland, and course conditions will be testing, with heavy ground expected. Capri might not love it, but O’Brien predicts he’ll cope with the conditions better than stablemate Cliffs of Moher. Cliffs of Moher won the Chester Vase and was second in the Epsom Derby to start his 3-year-old season but went fairly quietly through the rest of the year. O’Brien has a third runner, Yucatan, who might better suit the Alleged than Cliffs of Moher.

Also on the Naas program is the Group 3 Gladness Stakes over seven furlongs, a race that has the Dermot Weld-trained Making Light at the top of the antepost betting markets.

The Group 3 Prix Sigy over six furlongs on soft ground at Chantilly could yield runners for the French, English, or Irish 2000 Guineas. American audiences will recognize at least one entrant, Sands of Mali, who most recently was seen finishing ninth behind Mendelssohn in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Other key entrants are Forza Capitano, whose 3-year-old debut yielded a four-length course and distance win over heavy going March 15, and Alba Power, another recent Chantilly winner, this one Group 3-placed last year at age 2.