Flighty Lady tops Prix Cleopatre

Owner Peter Brant is in action Saturday with Chad Brown-trained horses at Belmont Park, but he also has the early favorite Flighty Lady in the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre at Lyon Parilly in France.

Flighty Lady is one of just six likely runners in this 1 3/8-mile prep for the Prix de Diane, the French Derby. The Cleopatre shares top billing with the Group 3 Prix Greffulhe, a prep for the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) on a card moved to Lyon Parilly from Saint-Cloud because of coronavirus concerns. The two races typically are contested over 1 5/16 miles, the distance of the French Derby and French Oaks (scheduled for July 5 this year) but the Lyon Parilly course doesn’t accommodate that trip. Recent rain had the turf designated as heavy on Friday.

Flighty Lady -- who races under Brant’s French nom de course, White Birch Farm -- is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, and while she has won just once in five starts, Flighty Lady managed a third-place finish in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac, won by Albigna, last October. She was third in her 2020 debut May 14 at Longchamp, and longer distances should be her friend.

Camogie, a blowout winner of a maiden race May 14 at Saint-Cloud in her only race, appears to be the main competition.

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The Prix Greffulhe produced the 2018 French Derby winner, Study of Man, but none of the nine entrants in this renewal appears to be a major player for the French classic. Mkfancy ran poorly last month over 1 1/8 miles on good ground in the Prix de la Force at Longchamp, but could find far more suitable conditions racing a longer distance over heavy going Saturday. Mkfancy’s career peak by a wide margin came Oct. 26 with a win in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, a 1 ¼-mile race contested on heavy ground.

First post for this 10-race card, with live video and wagering available at bets.drf.com, is 10:20 a.m. Eastern.