By Tom Frary
France's key mile Classic trials take place on Sunday, with ParisLongchamp hosting the G3 Prix de la Grotte and G3 Prix de Fontainebleau over the same course and distance of next month's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Poulains. The Grotte sees some major names among the generation's fillies making their seasonal return, led by China Horse Club International's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Rose Bloom (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Alain Jathiere's G3 Prix des Reservoirs winner Tulipa Chope (Fr) (Born To Sea {Ire}). The Aga Khan's four-length Chantilly conditions winner Candala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) adds spice from Francis-Henri Graffard's Aiglemont base. With ample stamina in her pedigree, the latter will have to prove sharp enough to deal with speed-tested peers here but it is intriguing that Graffard opts for a mile to restart her.
In the Fontainebleau, the Poulains contenders include Philippe Allaire and Haras d'Etreham's G3 Prix la Rochette-winning TDN Rising Star Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who lost his unbeaten record but effectively nothing in defeat when third from a compromising draw in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. He faces a fellow 3-year-old bigwig in Nurlan Bizakov's Ramadan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who was fourth in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, had beaten the subsequent TDN Rising Star Narkez (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at Chantilly and returned this term with a five-length success in the Listed Prix Omnium II at Saint-Cloud last month. There is also Peter R Bradley III's unbeaten Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), who beat the TDN Rising Star Elbaz (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) over this trip at Chantilly when last seen in September and until he suffers defeat the Mario Baratti trainee's limit is unknown.
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