France correspondent Scott Burton selects his Ten to Follow for the Flat season

For all that there are 32 horses to choose from on the list that are trained in France, you are simply not going to get a lot of point-scoring opportunities if you select ten names who are more likely to be kept at home, so it pays to include horses trained across the English Channel, as well as a few who have shone on their trips over from Britain and Ireland.

Ascot in June and October will be key and it will pay to side with connections who have an affinity with the venue, so I’m leading off with the Jerome Reynier-trained Facteur Cheval, who has the Queen Anne as his next target and could also take in the Sussex and the QEII Stakes. 

Christopher Head has also shown a liking for Britain and his Ramatuelle should be a major player in either the Commonwealth Cup or the Coronation Stakes.

We could end up doubly represented in the Coronation if the Aga Khan and Francis Graffard aim French 1,000 Guineas winner Rouhiya there rather than the Prix de Diane, but whichever route they take, she is a filly to follow. 

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes is also a likely target for a number of French trainers and, in the wake of Sunday's Prix d’Ispahan, my vote goes to Horizon Dore, who has the option of Ascot or the Eclipse and who ran well in last season's Champion Stakes.  

The French 2,000 Guineas might end up being more informative over middle distances and, having been taken with the finishing efforts of both runner-up Dancing Gemini and fourth-placed Diego Velazquez, both warrant inclusion. 

Nor do you need to have been present at Longchamp on Arc day last October to have been impressed by juvenile Group 1 winners Rosallion and Opera Singer, each of whom should be major points scorers as the summer progresses. 

There are plenty of French-breds housed in Newmarket and Tipperary. Joseph O’Brien has said how well Al Riffa takes his racing and the Haras d’Etreham-bred son of Wootton Bassett looks bound for a good season en route to the Arc.

Impressive Leopardstown winner Highbury is a product of the Dubois family’s breeding operation and the three-year-old son of Galileo could be on his way to justifying his €650,000 price tag at Arqana. 

Scott Burton's Ten to Follow

Al Riffa
Dancing Gemini
Diego Velazquez
Facteur Cheval
Highbury
Horizon Dore
Opera Singer
Ramatuelle
Rosallion
Rouhiya

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Our Newmarket correspondent David Milnes selects his Tote Ten to Follow for the Flat season 

Irish reporter Justin O'Hanlon selects his Tote Ten To Follow for the Flat season 

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