Simca Mille bolsters Grand Prix de Paris form in Prix Niel but Arc bid uncertain

Sunday: Prix Niel, Longchamp

The Qatar Prix Niel looked the most informative of the three key races on Arc trials day, especially in the wake of the three-year-old domination of the Irish Champion Stakes a day earlier.

Japanese Derby winner Do Deuce was the star attraction, but having loomed large in the straight his effort flattened out and it was Simca Mille who got the better of a hard-fought finish with Lassaut.

After Onesto's performance in pushing Luxembourg so close at Leopardstown, it should not have been a huge surprise to see the horse that finished second to him in the Grand Prix de Paris enhance his Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe claims.

However, Simca Mille will need to be supplemented for the showpiece, while the Grand Prix de Paris form received another boost later in the afternoon with Eldar Eldarov's St Leger success.

The form of the Grand Prix de Paris has worked out extremely well

"I had a few doubts because his fighting performance in the Grand Prix de Paris left its mark," said winning trainer Stephane Wattel. "The first two have now shown the worth of the race because Onesto ran a fantastic race yesterday.

"Simca Mille ran really well today considering he is a good-ground horse and that it was a very trappy race with a stop-start pace.

"He has bags of stamina and there was a moment when those on his outside looked like closing him down, but when the jockey shook the reins he really picked up again in the final 100 metres."

Coral cut Simca Mille to 25-1 (from 40) for the Arc and it will be owner Haras de la Perelle's Jurgen Winter who will have the final say, though Wattel did not sound sold on the idea.

"Today I would probably say no if the owner asked, unless he really comes forward for the run, because he was 9kg lighter today than when he ran in the Grand Prix de Paris and we have only three weeks until the Arc," added Wattel.

Arc entry Lassaut, who had won a Listed contest at Deauville the time before, ran a fine race on his first start over a mile and a half.

"He didn’t accelerate in the way we know he can," said jockey Cristian Demuro. "I think the ground was a bit against him but I don't think the distance found him out, he kept on right to the end.

"If he had picked up the way he did at Deauville, there would have been no contest."

Yasuo Tomomichi was left with plenty of thinking to do after Do Deuce could manage only fourth of the seven runners.

"Yutaka Take said he was a bit bothered by the [soft] ground," said Tomomichi. "He'll undoubtedly have learnt plenty from the experience, while he wasn't at 100 per cent.

"We won the Prix Niel with Makahiki and he was then tired come the Arc, so hopefully we've learned from that."

Iresine enjoys day in the sun but Arc 'not yet discarded' for Verry Elleegant

Iresine and Marie Velon return to the Longchamp winners' enclosure after victory in the Group 2 Qatar Prix FoyCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

Prix Foy, Longchamp

Iresine came from last to first to run down Bubble Gift and Verry Elleegant under a beautifully judged ride from Marie Velon to win the Qatar Prix Foy.

However, the five-year-old did not impact the Arc market after becoming the first gelding to take the Prix Foy since it was opened up to them in 2020.

Not that trainer Jean-Pierre Gauvin was entertaining any thoughts of what might have been after seeing a typically carefully laid plan come to fruition.

"This horse has never disappointed when he has his ground and he just doesn't like it firm," said Gauvin, who won the Prix Niel on this day ten years ago with Saonois.

"It's why we didn't run in the Grand Prix de Deauville, and once that had been discarded the Prix Foy was always the plan.

"We'll talk about it calmly, but the only Group 1 left for him in France this year is the Prix Royal-Oak. I'm sure that if he relaxes in behind like that for Marie, he'll have no trouble staying the extra distance."

Bubble Gift ran well enough to narrowly get the better of Verry Elleegant for second on his first start since the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud earlier in the year.

"It was a perfectly fine comeback run which turned into a bit of a sprint," said trainer Mikel Delzangles. "He was a bit caught for speed but ran very well. He should now head to the Arc in three weeks."

Of Verry Elleegant, trainer Francis Graffard said: "She's changed a lot since Deauville. Today she was straight into the rhythm of the race, albeit they didn't go very quick.

"Christophe [Soumillon] said she got a bit lost coming down the hill and changed her legs several times. It's her first time at Longchamp so that's not surprising. We'll discuss together what comes next.

"She's in the Prix de Royallieu and will appreciate the extra distance, but we haven't closed the door on the Arc either.

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