France: Cirrus des Aigles returns at Saint Cloud

Sunday’s $524,000 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud in France has a strong field of 11 older horses led by the 13-time stakes winner Cirrus des Aigles.

Unraced since finishing second to the undefeated superstar Frankel in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last October, the 7-year-old Cirrus des Aigles will try to win his third Group 1 race in the last 15 months in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud. In early 2012, Cirrus des Aigles won consecutive Group 1 races in the $5 million Sheema Classic in Dubai and the Prix Ganay at Longchamp.

The Grand Prix de Saint Cloud will be run over 1 1/2 miles on soft turf. The race is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, providing a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf at Santa Anita in November.

Cirrus des Aigles faces a group that includes Dunaden and Joshua Tree, who were second and third in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Ascot on June 1, and Dalkala, who won the Group 2 Middleton Stakes for fillies and mares at York last month.

Dunaden won the 2011 Melbourne Cup, while Joshua Tree won the Canadian International at Woodbine last October.