Joan Of Arc bids for Prix de Diane glory

Aidan O’Brien goes in search of more Classic glory in France today when Joan Of Arc lines up in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly.

The Galileo filly was narrowly denied in the Irish 1,000 Guineas last month by stablemate Empress Josephine.

Ioritz Mendizabal takes the mount on the Ballydoyle charge in the 'French Oaks' over ten furlongs.

She is currently disputing favouritism at around 5/1 with the Andre Fabre-trained Godolphin filly Philomene.

Jean-Claude Rouget is out to claim the French 1000 Guineas and Oaks double for a third time with Coeursamba.

A shock winner of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, she beat O’Brien’s Mother Earth who had won the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and has since gone close in the Coronation Stakes.

Rouget has done the double with both Avenir Certain (2014) and La Cressonniere (2016) to date.

“It’s true that after the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, that I had talked about the possibility of keeping Coeursamba to a mile, and a crack at the Coronation Stakes was mooted,” said Rouget.

“However, on one hand, making travel arrangements is very complicated, and, on the other hand, she would have had to be supplemented. There would have been a significant cost factor to all of us, and we have to weigh this against the prize money on offer for Diane, even if you get placed.

“So we’ll try the step up in distance, knowing that the filly worked very well on Monday morning. If the 2,100 metres (10 furlongs) proves to be too far, we’ll still have the option of reverting to a mile without having devalued the filly.”

Rouget also run Light Stars, a winner of two of her three starts so far.

“Light Stars won the Prix Caravelle — Haras des Granges in good style. She had previously disappointed us at Saint-Cloud for no apparent reason, but I noticed that a lot of horses ran badly that day,” he said.

Khalidiya runs for Alain de Royer-Dupre in the famous silks of the Aga Khan who is seeking his eighth win in the race.

“We’ve had no problems with her preparation. The filly seems to be in really good shape. We have tried to bring her on in condition with her racing. She is not far off her peak,” said Royer-Dupre.

“She has benefited from a similar campaign to Daryaba (the winner of the Prix de Diane in 1999) but they aren’t entirely similar fillies. Daryaba was a fairly laid back whereas Khalidiya is more on her toes and, therefore, far more reactive.

“Before she saw the racecourse, I really thought she was something special. She was one of my best fillies. Soft ground would be a big disadvantage. As her physique isn’t compatible when it comes to acting on muddy tracks.”

Andre Fabre runs three with Philomene in the Godolphin silks.

Lisa-Jane Graffard of Godolphin said: “Philomene comes into this race well and Andre Fabre feels that she has progressed since the Pouliches. The going is a slight question mark as we would prefer good ground, but she is ready to perform well and do her best.”