Kessaar stretching out in Criterium International

A workers’ protest forced the cancellation of the Criterium International a year ago, but as far as anyone knows, the Group 1 race for 2-year-olds over one mile at Saint-Cloud is on again Sunday.

Seven were entered, with English invader Kessaar favored in antepost wagering over Irish raider Hermosa. John Gosden trains Kessaar, who already has raced six times this year and hit peak form in his most recent start, winning the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes on Sept. 22 over soft going at Newbury. Kessaar, by Kodiac and out of Querulous, by Raven’s Pass, has yet to try a distance longer than six furlongs, and his ability to stay the one-mile distance of the Criterium International is a key question in the race.

Hermosa was among the pre-entered horses in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and her presence Sunday in France would preclude a trip to America, with trainer Aidan O’Brien’s runners for the Breeders’ Cup set to leave Monday from Ireland. Hermosa, who gets a four-pound weight break from males in the race such as Kessaar, was third of 10 going seven furlongs in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes in September and most recently was a decent if uninspiring second to Irridessa going a straight mile in the Group 1 Fillies Mile on Sept. 16 at Newmarket.

Hermosa’s best performances have come on courses over which she has been able to stay on top of the ground, and any deterioration in the Saint-Cloud going, rated good-to-soft as of Friday, probably work against her.

Royal Meeting could be an interesting prospect for Godolphin and trainer Saeed bin Suroor, having scored a sharp maiden win over 14 rivals going seven furlongs at Yarmouth on Sept. 19.

Co-featured on the card is the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, France’s most important race for staying horses. Contested over 1 7/8 miles, the Royal-Oak drew eight entrants, including the rising 3-year-old Flag of Honour. Also trained by O’Brien, Flag of Honour has improved through the second half of his 2018 campaign as he has been tried over longer distances, winning the 1 3/4-mile Irish St. Leger and finishing second to Europe’s leading long-distance horse, Stradivarius, in the two-mile British Champions Long Distance Cup on Oct. 20.