Soul Sister attempts rare feat for Gosdens and Kieran Shoemark in fascinating Grand Prix de Paris

John Gosden has earned a well-deserved reputation for thinking outside the box when it comes to campaigning his top horses along with son Thady; before Enable, nobody believed the Yorkshire Oaks was the textbook prep for the Arc, less so the September Stakes.

Certainly the choice to supplement Lady Bamford's Oaks winner Soul Sister for the Grand Prix de Paris runs counter to ingrained habits. Since a minor glut of six fillies ran in the Longchamp Group 1 between 1990 and 1994, the race has been contested solely by colts.

Indeed, when France Galop drew up a list of "win and you're in" races to help revive the Grand Prix several years ago, it included a raft of colts' trials and Classics across Britain, France and Ireland. The first three in the Derby gain automatic entry, though nobody thought to offer a place to even the winner of the Oaks.

But just because nobody else has thought to do it does not mean it's a bad idea and Soul Sister – who will be the mount of Kieran Shoemark in the absence of the suspended Frankie Dettori – is 2lb clear of her nearest rival, Adelaide River, even before the 3lb sex allowance comes into consideration.

This is not to say that it is a penalty kick for the daughter of Frankel. Longchamp's two-and-a-half-furlong straight provides plenty of time to wind Soul Sister up, though not as much as either York or Epsom.

Adelaide River was ridden positively by Seamie Heffernan when runner-up in the Irish Derby and Ryan Moore will not want this to turn into a sprint, meaning Tom Marquand and stablemate Peking Opera may be asked to at least share some of the workload.

Ratings-wise, Adelaide River falls right in the middle of what the spread of Aidan O'Brien's five previous winners had achieved when they arrived at Longchamp, his official mark of 114 putting him level with Kew Gardens (2018) but a little short of the standard set by Japan (2019) and Scorpion (2005), who had also surpassed expectations when finishing second at the Curragh.

Scorpion (pink silks) arrived in Paris after pushing Hurricane Run hard in the Irish Derby

The other horse to be supplemented on Tuesday, Feed The Flame, steps up in trip after finishing fourth in the Jockey Club at Chantilly last month.

You can read his pedigree either one of two ways; of his two best siblings, Sacred Life was a miler, while Khagan finished runner up in the Prix du Lys over a mile and a half.

Trainer Pascal Bary appears convinced he will stay and Cristian Demuro – deputising for another suspended jockey in Christophe Soumillon – will ride him cold in the hope of utilising his turn of foot.

Rubis Vendome also showed he could come with a rush when landing this year's Lys, and should not be discounted, while First Minister provides the Coolmore partners with a third string to their bow.

Andre Fabre has brought the son of Galileo along with patience and victory in the Prix Hocquart on only his fourth career start puts him within hailing distance of this class on ratings, for a trainer who has won the Grand Prix de Paris on 13 previous occasions.

What they say

Pascal Bary, trainer of Feed The Flame
I thought he ran well in the Jockey Club for one so inexperienced. He likes Longchamp and he'll appreciate the step up in trip.

Mario Baratti, trainer of Rubis Vendome
We were very happy with his performance last time and now he's stepping up again. He needs some pace in the race, which I think the O'Brien runners will ensure, and I don't think we know how good he is yet. Oisin Murphy is suspended and I knew Andrea Atzeni when I worked for Marco Botti in Newmarket. He rode Angers to win the German 2,000 Guineas for me, so we have a 100 per cent record together so far.

Rubis Vendome and Oisin Murphy after winning the Group 3 Prix du Lys

Alessandro Botti, trainer of Winter Pudding
I hope the return to 2,400 metres [a mile and a half] will see him in a better light because, even allowing for the drop back in trip, I thought he ran below form in the Jockey Club. He's come out of it well and the preparations have gone to plan. He has a preference for soft ground and if we happened to catch a shower, that would suit me.

Andre Fabre, trainer of First Minister
He's a solid horse and the extra furlong should be no harm. He might have come forward a little from his last run but my concern is the ground, which dries up when the races are late in the day.

Carlos Laffon-Parias, trainer of Silawi
He ran to form when second in the Prix du Lys and I think the English and Irish horses will be difficult to beat. I'll be happy if he can grab a place.

John Gosden, joint-trainer of Soul Sister
Soul Sister is taking on colts for the first time in one of the last three-year-old only Group 1s of the season in Europe. We have races like the Prix Vermeille in mind for her later on so we thought we'd give her a look at Longchamp. She's been in good order since and had a gallop on the July course the other day. It's a competitive enough race but it's not the King George in terms of competition.

Read our Friday previews:

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