Sakhee entered at Deauville Saturday

Sakhee has been supplemented at a cost $3,860 of to run at Deauville Saturday in the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron, a 1-1/4-mile test for 4-year-olds & up which have not won a Group 1 race this year.

That such an accomplished horse as Sakhee would be running in what amounts to a "get-well" race indicates that Godolphin is playing catch-up with the 5-year-old son of Bahri in preparing him for a defense of his Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe title on Oct. 6.

Sakhee has been out of action since finishing third in the Dubai World Cup. He was withdrawn from the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes on July 27 because the ground was too firm. Seeking two well-spaced races prior to the Arc, the Gontaut-Biron was about the only event left on the calendar that could serve as his re-introduction to the races.

He will be meeting six foes on Saturday, one of which is his supplemented pacesetter, Sydenham, who served the same purpose successfully for Grandera in the Prince of Wales's Stakes. Poussin finished ahead of Banks Hill when second in the Prix d'Ispahan, King Of Tara was runner-up to Arlington Million hopeful Cheshire in the Grand Prix de Vichy, but Wellbeing is the one most capable of upsetting Sakhee's plans.

The Pascal Bary-trained son of Sadler's Wells was just a nose behind Mutafaweq in the Coronation Cup last year and is coming off a sharp score in the Grand Prix de Compiegne.

Richard Hills will deputize aboard Sakhee for the indisposed Frankie Dettori. The ground at Deauville is expected to be on the soft side, so Sakhee will have no excuses if he fails to master his inferior rivals.

The Prix Gontaut-Biron will be shown on tape delay as a part of ESPN's telecast of the Sword Dancer Handicap on Saturday afternoon.