So Mi Dar stands out in Prix de l'Opera field

Undefeated So Mi Dar is likely to be an odds-on favorite to win her Group 1 debut in Sunday’s $449,240 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Chantilly Racecourse in France.

The Prix de l’Opera, run at 1 1/4 miles on turf, could have implications for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5. The winner of the Prix de l’Opera receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf through the Win and You’re In program.

So Mi Dar, a 3-year-old trained by John Gosden, has won four races, including the John Musker Stakes at Yarmouth Racecourse in England on Sept. 14. So Mi Dar is part of a field of seven. Her main rival is Speedy Boarding, winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville in August.

The Prix de l’Opera is one of six Group 1 races for Thoroughbreds on Sunday’s program at Chantilly, which is led by the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s richest race.

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Two one-mile races for 2-year-olds – the $383,085 Jean-Luc Lagardere for colts and fillies and the $336,930 Prix Marcel Boussac for fillies – are part of the Win and You’re In program for the BC Juvenile Turf and BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Kontrastat, winner of a Group 3 race at Saint-Cloud in France, on Sept. 4, will be a slight choice in the Jean-Luc Lagardere over Whitecliffsofdover, a Kentucky-bred who was second in a Group 3 at Newmarket in England, on Sept. 22.

The undefeated Toulifaut, by Frankel, will be favored over Dabyah in the Prix Marcel Boussac. Dabyah, trained by Gosden, will have her stakes debut after two impressive wins in England. Toulifaut, a Group 3 winner at Chantilly on Sept. 8, is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget.

There are two sprints Sunday for older horses – the $393,085 Prix de l’Abbaye at five furlongs, and the $336,930 Prix de la Foret at seven furlongs.

Mecca’s Angel, winner of the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, England, in August, will be a strong favorite to win her third consecutive stakes in the Prix de l’Abbaye. A 5-year-old mare, Mecca’s Angel is part of a field of 17.

Limato, second to Mecca’s Angel in the Nunthorpe, is likely to be odds-on to beat 11 rivals in the Prix de la Foret. Trained by Henry Candy, Limato won the Group 1 July Stakes at Newmarket during the summer.