Deauville: Pinatubo ships for Prix Jean Prat, shortens up to seven furlongs in attempt to right ship

Pinatubo will try a new country and a shorter distance looking for his first win as a 3-year-old.

Europe’s best 2-year-old last season went 6 for 6 but has no wins from two starts during 2020. Pinatubo ran fine both starts, finishing third of 15 in the English 2000 Guineas and second of seven in the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, but those performances, both over one mile, were nothing like the dominant form he displayed as a juvenile.

Sunday, trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin cut Pinatubo back to seven furlongs when he starts as the sure favorite in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville in France. Jockey William Buick, aboard the son of Shamardal for his last four rides, travels along to take the mount at Deauville, where the ground as of Saturday was listed as soft. Pinatubo won the Group 1 Dewhurst over soft ground last season but that was the least impressive among his group stakes win last season, when Pinatubo excelled at seven-furlong racing.

:: French racing: Download free PPs

Pinatubo as of Saturday was a general odds-on favorite with British bookmakers, but there actually are a number of competent rivals lined up to face him.

Molatham, an England-based colt by Night of Thunder, is 3 for 3 over seven furlongs, handles soft ground, and beat 12 rivals in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot in his 3-year-old unveiling.

Wooded faced considerably softer competition in his lone start this year, back on May 13 at Chantilly, but he won that 2020 debut well over a six-furlong trip short of his best, looking like an improved colt from a useful 2019 campaign. Wooded was slated to start in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot but was forced to remain in France because of coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

Alson has performed well on good turf but has a heavy-ground win and might suit a rain-softened course Sunday. He most recently finished third behind the talented miler Victor Ludorum in the French 2000 Guineas.

Andre Fabre trains Alson as well as the filly Tropbeau, who should enjoy a cut back in trip from one mile to seven furlongs. Tropbeau, who gets a three-pound sex allowance, most recently was fourth in the French 1000 Guineas but won twice last season going seven furlongs at Deauville and has ample baseline ability to contend Sunday.

Arizona finished second to Pinatubo in the Dewhurst but has been well off his best form in two starts this season for trainer Aidan O’Brien, who also sends Lope Y Fernandez, a more interesting participant, from Ireland. Lope Y Fernandez was just 11th in the six-furlong Commonwealth but previously had raced much better, finishing third going a one-turn mile in the Irish 2000 Guineas.

Lope Y Fernandez was trading at about 20-1 Saturday, as was Kinross, a thrice-started colt who is likely to improve upon a solid sixth-place finish in the English 2000 Guineas, his lone start at age 3.

Post time for the Prix Jean Prat, part of a stakes-filled Deauville card, is set for 10:25 a.m. Eastern. You can watch and wager at DRFBets.com.

Derbies in Germany, Italy

The Group 1 German Derby at Hamburg and the Group 2 Italian Derby at Campanelle highlight the rest of the European racing action Sunday.

At Hamburg, Wonderful Moon heads a field of 19 who will travel 1 1/2 miles around the right-handed course, which was listed as good to soft on Saturday. Wonderful Moon, a Sea the Moon colt, has won three in a row, all in group stakes competition, including the 11-furlong, Group 2 Sparkasse Kollbonn Union Rennen at Cologne in his lead-up to Sunday’s test.

Wonderful Moon only beat German Derby starter Grocer Jack by three-quarters of a length last out, but raced three to four paths wide the entire trip while Grocer Jack saved ground to the homestretch.

Dicaprio has but one career start, though in it he won a Derby trial at Munich by seven lengths racing over soft ground while facing eight foes. Kellahen, also lightly raced, was an easy winner last out in a Derby trial at Hanover. Frohsim and In Swoop both invade from France, the latter a mildly encouraging third last out in the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe, which was contested this year at Lyon-Parilly, rather than Saint-Cloud, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 11-furlong Italian Derby drew 13 runners with Cima Emergency, by Canford Cliffs, the race’s top-rated entrant.

*Oxted posted a 12-1 upset in the Group 1 July Cup on Saturday at Newmarket, winning the straight course, six-furlong sprint by 1 1/4 lengths over Sceptical. Golden Horde, the 2-1 favorite, set the pace and ran well but faded slightly late and finished a neck behind Sceptical in third.

Cieren Fallon, 21-year-old son of famed English rider Kieren Fallon, rode the winner, his first in a Group 1. Roger Teal trains Oxted, a 4-year-old son of Mayson and Charlotte Rosina, by Choisir.