8 Irish in French Derby mix Aidan O'Brien has five remaining entries in the Prix Du Jockey Club at Chantilly on Sunday. The Ballydoyle handler is still searching for his first victory in the French Classic and left in Seahenge, Flag Of Honour, Hunting Horn, Kenya and Rostropovich at Monday’s first forfeit stage. Joseph O'Brien has two possible runners in Escamillo and Latrobe, while Dermot Weld’s Bandua is an eighth Irish-trained contender. James Tate will wait until later in the week before deciding whether to let Hey Gaman return to France for the 10-furlong Group One. A close-up third in last month’s Greenham Stakes at Newbury, the son of New Approach then lined up in the French 2000 Guineas — the Poule d’Essai des Poulains — and ran a stormer to finish a narrow second behind Jean-Claude Rouget’s Olmedo. Hey Gaman could bid for Classic glory again in this weekend’s French Derby or wait for Royal Ascot next month. Tate said: “We’re slightly undecided at the moment. We’re still considering whether to run on Sunday or wait for the St James’s Palace Stakes. “I don’t think the mile and a quarter on Sunday would be any problem for him, so I am tempted to run, but we’ll see how he is, what the weather is doing and what the opposition is looking like later in the week. “He’s ready to run in another Group One, but we just have to choose our race carefully. “With a horse of his calibre, you can’t run them every week and we just want to do right by him.” The other British possibles among a total of 30 entries are Martyn Meade’s Chilean, Charlie Appleby’s Masar, the Harry Dunlop-trained Knight To Behold and Roaring Lion from John Gosden’s yard, although the latter trio all look likely to run in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday instead. Olmedo heads the home team.
