First & Loch Garman bidding for French glory

Andrew Oliver is confident Frankie Dettori's mount First Cornerstone is ready for his second shot at Classic glory in little over a week as he heads to Chantilly for Sunday's Prix du Jockey Club.

Winner of the Group Two Futurity Stakes at the Curragh as a juvenile, the Team Valor-owned chestnut ran a perfectly respectable race on his seasonal return in last weekend's Irish 2,000 Guineas to finish fifth.

Connections seriously considered a crack at Saturday's Investec Derby at Epsom, but the three-year-old instead crosses the Channel for the French equivalent, where he is drawn wide in stall 13.

"Everything is good, he's come out of the Irish Guineas well and he'll fly out on Saturday," said Oliver.

"We did leave him in the Epsom Derby, but although he's bred to stay a mile and a half, it's a big step up in trip and there were too many variables.

"In the French Derby he's going a mile and a quarter, which should be fine, and hopefully the ground will be all right.

"He's not short of toe and it's right race for him, if things go right.

"It always seems to be a rough race in the straight, but he's a manly enough horse and if the gap is there he'll go through it.

"There are always hard-luck stories here, so we'll just have to hope for the best."

Adding further interest to First Cornerstone's French mission is the booking of Dettori.

The Italian was finally given the all-clear to return from his six-month suspension earlier this week and has won the Prix du Jockey Club on three previous occasions.

"We are very pleased to have Frankie ride First Cornerstone," Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin said on the owner's website.

"He's a world-class rider, and he knows how to win this race."

First Cornerstone is one of two Irish challengers, with Jim Bolger's Loch Garman (stall five) also making the journey.

The master of Coolcullen could well be chasing a Derby double should Dawn Approach deliver as many expect at Epsom on Saturday, and Loch Garman holds solid claims having finished second behind leading Epsom candidate Battle Of Marengo on his return in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial.

There are also two contenders from Britain, with the Jo Hughes-trained Glacial Age and Ann Duffield's Willie The Whipper renewing rivalries having finished third and fourth respectively behind subsequent Irish Guineas hero Magician in Chester's Dee Stakes.

Neither have fared well in the draw, with the Hayley Turner-ridden Glacial Age widest of all in stall 19 and Willie The Whipper not far away in 15 in the hands of Jamie Spencer.

Hughes said: "All has gone well since Chester and although we're aiming high, I think he deserves to take his chance.

"We haven't fared well in the draw, but we can't do anything about that, and ideally we'd have liked a bit more rain, but we can't do anything about that either.

"Good ground isn't a problem for him, I just would have preferred softer ground as it might give him a slight advantage, as he handles it better than a lot of horses.

"He didn't really take to Chester and I think a more galloping track will suit him better."

Duffield is confident her charge is in better shape than he was heading to Chester, but admits the wide draw is a big concern.

Duffield said: "The draw is a big blow, but there's nothing we can do about it and we'll get on with it.

"I believe the ground is drying up all the time, which wouldn't worry me as we've always thought he could be a better horse on better ground.

"I was happy enough with how he ran at Chester as we knew he was undercooked going there and Jamie said if the horse had been fully wound up he would have finished second.

"The winner from Chester is obviously very good and if we'd finished second everyone would be saying we had a big chance on Sunday.

"He's coped with travelling to and racing in France before, so that shouldn't be a problem, and we're looking forward to it."

His Highness the Aga Khan has enjoyed plenty of previous success in this race and the leading owner this year has two runners in Dalwari (stall 16) and Shikarpour (six).

Jean-Claude Rouget's Dalwari won a Group Three at the track a few weeks ago and is the mount of the owner's retained rider Christophe Lemaire.

Thierry Jarnet comes in for the ride on Alain de Royer-Dupre's Longchamp maiden winner Shikarpour.

The Aga Khan's racing manager Georges Rimaud said: "Dalwari has already won at Chantilly and is a handy horse.

"He won nicely on his last run and this race has been the plan since the beginning, so we hope he can run very well.

"Last year's winner (Saonois) was drawn in stall 16, so I'm not too worried about that.

"There will be plenty of pace in the race, the field should spread out and he isn't going to get stuck 16 horses wide.

"Hopefully he can get a nice position and we will see what happens.

"We were hoping for a very good run from Shikarpour at Longchamp. He had shown us ability and we were happy with his performance.

"He has been a bit backward, the season is moving along and the opportunity is here.

"We want to let him run and this race will tell us how good he is.

"We will have a better judgement on him afterwards."

The Mikel Delzangles-trained Mshawish (stall one) was second behind Dalwari in the Prix de Guiche and renews rivalry,

Delzangles said: "He is in great form and ran nicely in his prep race at Chantilly.

"I hope the ground is not too soft, as I think this distance is as far as he would want to go."