Longchamp: Saga Dream, Dalkala square off in Prix d’Harcourt

Saga Dream, winner of the Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud last month, and Dalkala, who won the Group 2 Prix de Royallieu last October, are among seven runners for Sunday’s $167,000 Prix d’Harcourt at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.

The Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt is run over about 1 1/4 miles and is a prep for the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on April 28.

Saga Dream, a 7-year-old gelding, won the Prix Exbury by a head over Don Bosco, who is entered for the Prix d’Harcourt. Trained by Freddy Lemercier, Saga Dream won the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris over 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp last October in his final start of 2012.

The field features two talented females in Dalkala, who was fifth in the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak over 1 15/16 miles last October; and Haya Landa, who was fourth as a 150-1 outsider in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October. Haya Landa was later sixth in the Group 3 Prix de Flore at Longchamp on Oct. 29 last year, her most recent start.

Sprinter Sacre stretches streak to 9

Sprinter Sacre extended his unbeaten streak over fences to nine races and won for the first time over 2 1/2 miles in a steeplechase, with an easy victory in Friday’s $296,000 Melling Chase at Aintree Racecourse.

Ridden by Barry Geraghty for trainer Nicky Henderson, Sprinter Sacre, the 1-3 favorite, stalked the pace for the first two miles, moved closer to the leaders between the final two fences, and took the lead before the final fence.

A 7-year-old gelding, Sprinter Sacre won by 4 1/2 lengths over Cue Card, a Grade 1 winner at Cheltenham on March. 14. Sprinter Sacre won the Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham on March 13. He will not race again until the fall when the British steeplechase season resumes in earnest.