Final prep races for Arc de Triomphe lead parade of important stakes in Europe

Prep races for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France, four Group 1 races in Ireland, and the English St. Leger Stakes – moved back a day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II – make it a big Sunday of racing in Europe. And with all of the action, Tuesday may be the best-known horse in any of those important races.

Tuesday, winner of the Epsom Oaks on June 3, is one of 11 fillies and mares entered in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille, one of three Arc trials Sunday at Longchamp. Tuesday and the other five 3-year-olds entered get eight pounds from their older rivals, a weight break that ought to give the younger set an edge in the 1 1/2-mile contest.

While Tuesday won the Oaks, she widely was regarded as the second-best horse in the race, up by a bob of the head over Emily Upjohn, who nearly overcame a disastrous start and a wide trip while Tuesday had much better luck. Emily Upjohn finished last of six in her lone post-Oaks race, the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, but Nashwa, third in the Oaks, validated the race’s form winning the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and beating older horses in the Group 1 Nassau.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

As for Tuesday, she finished a tepid fourth in the Irish Derby on June 23, but following a freshening delivered a better performance in the Yorkshire Oaks on Aug. 18. There, Tuesday was beaten one length by 5-year-old Alpinista, a leading Arc hope, while in receipt of nine pounds. Tuesday should improve Sunday, but she’ll have to deal with fellow 3-year-old La Parisienne. Lightly raced La Parisienne brims with upside and she gets her first shot at 1 1/2 miles after most recently finishing a close second behind Nashwa in the Prix de Diane.

Grand Glory, most recently third in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, is the highest rated mare in the Vermeille, which looks like the strongest of the three Arc trials.

Do Deuce is the major player in the Prix Niel for 3-year-olds. Do Deuce won the May 29 Japan Derby, his first try over 1 1/2 miles, in his most recent start, and jockey Yutaka Take has followed the Heart’s Cry colt to France for the 1 1/2-mile Niel. Simca Mille, a close second making his Group 1 debut July 14 in the Grand Prix de Paris, should emerge as Do Deuce’s main rival.

The New Zealand-bred mare Verry Elleegant, a multiple Group 1 winner in Australia, had a dismal European debut finishing last of seven Aug. 21 in the Prix Jean Romanet. Connections expect something much better Sunday in the Prix Foy, where Verry Elleegant gets three pounds from her five male rivals. High Definition, like Tuesday, trained by Aidan O’Brien, could try to make all the running.

The card at the Curragh includes two races that are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In series: The Flying Five Stakes over a straight five furlongs is linked to the BC Turf Sprint. The Moyglare Stud for 2-year-old fillies over one mile offers the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The connections of Flying Five favorite Highfield Princess already have Breeders’ Cup intentions, and Highfield Princess has emerged from obscurity to become one of Europe’s leading sprinters. Her last two starts, the 6 1/2-furlong Prix Maurice de Gheest and the five-furlong Nunthorpe, yielded Group 1 wins, the latter by 2 1/2 lengths. A Case of You was second in this five-furlong dash a year ago, and while he prefers a longer trip, he’s all but certain to improve upon a 17th-place finish when last seen in the Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot.

:: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now!

O’Brien trains the heavy favorite for both the Moyglare Stud and the Group 1 National, for 2-year-old colts and geldings. Meditate, 4 for 4 to start her career, was odds-on as of Friday in the Moyglare Stud, while Aesop’s Fables, an easy winner of his first two races, was an equally strong favorite for the National. Both juveniles are by No Nay Never.

O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore also partner with the excellent stayer Kyprios, a near cinch to win the Irish St. Leger over 1 3/4 miles. While the Irish St. Leger is open to older horses, the English St. Leger, originally scheduled for Saturday, is a 3-year-olds-only affair, with the Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin homebred New London an early odds-on choice to win his third race of the summer.