Guineas winners Rayif, True Love face off in Prix Jean Prat
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Rayif and True Love are the principal runners in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Jean Prat for 3-year-old colts and fillies at Deauville, France, after contrasting campaigns in recent months.
Rayif, an Irish-bred colt trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, has raced once this year, winning the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas at a mile by a length at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on May 10.
True Love, an Irish-bred filly trained by Aidan O’Brien, has had a much busier year. After a win in the Group 3 Priory Belle Stakes at seven furlongs at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on April 12, True Love won the second Group 1 race of her career in the English 1000 Guineas at a mile at Newmarket on May 3.
True Love has lost her last two starts in Group 1 races for 3-year-old fillies at a mile to the O’Brien-trained Precise, a second in the Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh on May 24 and a third in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19. Precise finished second as the odds-on favorite in Friday’s Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse.
True Love is likely to be a slight favorite over Rayif in a field of eight in the $456,000 Prix Jean Prat at seven furlongs.
Both have won at the distance. Rayif won the Group 2 Prix Francois Boutin at seven furlongs at Deauville last August. The win in the Priory Belle Stakes was True Love’s only start at seven furlongs.
They will dominate the betting, with Nighttime and Thesecretadversary likely to be only other runners with single-digit odds.
Nighttime, sixth in the French 2000 Guineas, won the Group 2 Prix Paul de Moussac for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Longchamp on June 7 for his fourth win in eight starts for trainer Christophe Head.
Nighttime and Rayif were second and third in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at seven furlongs at Longchamp last October.
Thesecretadversary won the Group 3 Jersey Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Royal Ascot on June 20 for his third win in nine starts.
Trained by Fozzy Stack in Ireland, Thesecretadversary is winless in three Grade 1 or Group 1 races in his career, including a fifth in the Summer Stakes at Woodbine last September, and a sixth-place finish in the Irish 2000 Guineas on May 23.
The Prix Jean Prat has a post time of 10:25 a.m. Eastern or 7:25 a.m. Pacific.
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