Cirrus des Aigles gets a distance test in Prix Royal-Oak

The remarkable 9-year-old Cirrus des Aigles starts in the longest race of his career in Sunday’s $385,000 Prix Royal-Oak at about 1 7/8 miles on turf at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris. Trained by Corinne Barande Barbe, Cirrus des Aigles has won 22 of 65 starts in his career.

Cirrus des Aigles is part of a field of 13 in the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, which has been transferred from Longchamp Racecourse while that course undergoes a redevelopment of its grandstand. Longchamp is scheduled to reopen in 2017.

Cirrus des Aigles is winless in three starts since the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp in May. He was fifth in the Group 2 Prix Dollar there on Oct. 3.

The Prix Royal-Oak will be a test for Cirrus des Aigles, the oldest runner in the field. The list of candidates is led by Mille Et Mille and Kicky Blue, who were first and second in the Group 1 Prix du Cadran at Longchamp on Oct. 4; Siljan’s Saga and Manatee, who were eighth and 11th in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Oct. 4; and Vazirabad, winner of the Group 2 Prix Chaudenay at Longchamp on Oct. 3.

In other major foreign stakes on Sunday, Satono Rasen, second in the Japanese Derby on May 31, starts in the $1,922,398 Japanese St. Leger, the Kikuka Sho. Run at Kyoto Racecourse, the Japanese St. Leger is run at about 1 7/8 miles on a right-handed turf course.

Satono Rasen was seventh in his first start of the fall in the Group 2 Asahi Hai St. Lite Kinen at Nakayama on Sept. 21, finishing behind Kitasan Black, a candidate for Sunday’s Kikuka Sho.