Baie Des Iles primed for French raid Ross O’Sullivan is looking forward to saddling his star mare Baie Des Iles in the Prix des Drags at Auteuil on Saturday. The grey was last seen finishing down the field when well fancied for the Grand National at Aintree under the trainer’s wife, Katie Walsh. With Walsh having since called time on her career on the saddle, Paul Townend takes over as Baie Des Iles runs at Auteuil for the first time since 2014. O’Sullivan said: “We’re looking forward to it. She travelled over on Wednesday and seems to have settled in well. “They’ve had a fairly wet week over there and the ground is good and soft, which is a big help for us. “It will be my first runner over there and a first runner over there for the owner, too, so we’ll enjoy it.” He added: “She had a very light season last season really. She only ran three times before Aintree and only once before Christmas. “She came back from Aintree well and she’s been showing us at home she’s fresh and well. If she wasn’t we wouldn’t be going. “She’s won at Auteuil before, which has to be a positive. It’s a good race, but there’s some good prize-money on offer. “It’s great to have Paul riding her. Once we knew Paul was going over and Willie (Mullins) had nothing in the race we were keen to get him and I think he was delighted to get the call.”
