Criterium de Saint-Cloud features top three from Prix de Conde

The Group 1, $345,000 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at 1 1/4 miles on Saturday will feature the first three home from the 1 1/8-mile, Group 3 Prix de Conde, but there is much more to this, the world’s longest juvenile group race, which has drawn a competitive field of 11 without a standout.

Trained by Elie Lellouche for Ecurie Wildenstein, Prairie Star prevailed by a neck over Bubble Chic and Kreem in the Conde on Oct. 17 at Longchamp. Prairie Star, by Montjeu, and Kreem, by Hurricane Run, are both sons of Arc winners, so they should stay the distance. Waiting in the wings, however, are a number of well-bred, lightly raced types eligible to improve.

Aidan O’Brien will saddle three of them. The best may be Recital. Also a son of Montjeu, he is a half-brother to Corre Caminos , winner of the 1 5/16-mile, Group 1 Prix Ganay, and to Racinger, a four-time group-race winner at a mile. Recital recently won his maiden race at first asking going a mile at Navan and will be ridden by Johnny Murtagh, who announced on Monday that he would be parting company with O’Brien and Coolmore at the end of the year. Another O’Brien-trained Montjeu colt, Exodus, is coming off a nine-length maiden score going a mile at Navan.

Trained by Andreas Wohler, German invader Quinindo is a Monsun half-brother to Quilang, winner of the 1 1/4-mile, Group 3 Prix de Psyche. He won his maiden going one mile at Bremen by 10 lengths in his debut. Italian raider Figli Fanesi, a son of Tiger Hill, is fresh from a 12-length, 1 1/8-mile maiden score at San Siro in Milan.

The Criterium de Saint-Cloud is the last Group 1 race of the year in Europe. The group race season there will conclude on Sunday with Group 3 contests at Frankfurt and Rome.