Royal Ascot winner Trinity College is set to try and graduate to Group One success in France on Sunday.
The regally bred Aidan O’Brien-trained colt is currently one of just six horses left in the €600,000 Cygames Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.
Although supplementary entries are possible later this week, the mile and a half contest for three-year-olds shapes as a contest that could prove a prime opportunity for Trinity College to live up to a top-flight pedigree.
He is a son of Duabawi and the dual 1,000 Guineas heroine Hermosa and appears to be on the upgrade following an impressive Group Two victory at Royal Ascot in the Hampton Court Stakes last month.
READ MORE
O’Brien has also left both Puppet Master and Galveston in the race. The latter was third to Amiloc in the King George on his last start, while Puppet Master beat just one home in the Irish Derby.
The local team is likely to be led by New Ground. The Juddmonte colt ran fourth to Lambourn in the Derby at Epsom.
It is 20 years since O’Brien secured the first of his four victories in the Grand Prix de Paris with Scorpion. Imperial Monarch won it for the Irishman in 2012 while Japan and Mogul won back-to-back in 2019-2020.
Wednesday’s Fairyhouse card features the Group Three Darley Stanerra Stakes where Santorini Star is a cross-channel challenger.
William Haggas’s runner was fourth in a Pontefract Listed contest on her last start and looks to face an uphill task in a nine-runner heat.
Goodie Two Shoes looks to set the standard on the back of a win at Down Royal last time and a Listed victory at Gowran in the Vintage Tipple.
Joseph O’Brien looks to have found the mare an ideal shot at a valuable Group success, although if Royal Entry can break a habit of slow starts she could be a major threat.
Paddy Twomey’s Dreamy Skies was well backed to make a winning debut at Listowel but a tardy start there immediately put her on the back foot. With that experience under her belt, she can be sharper for a competitive looking maiden.
In other news, Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien will try and land Thursday’s Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes for a second year running when combining with Brussels in the Group Two event.
Whistlejacket landed the Newmarket contest last season before graduating to Group One glory later in the season in the Prix Morny at Deauville. Brussels made a winning debut over his stable companion Kansas at the Curragh in May.
The Moore-O’Brien team will also be represented in the opening contest of the Newmarket’s July festival as Scandinavia lines up in the Group Three Bahrain Trophy. The pair last won the traditional St Leger trial through Housesofparliament in 2016.
Scandinavia was the stable second-string when fifth to Carmers in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot on his last start, although beaten less than a length and a half on that occasion.
