Prix d’Ispahan: Home challenge could prove strongest again

The Prix d’Ispahan, ran at Chantilly this year as opposed to Longchamp, has been won by subsequent Queen Anne winners Goldikova and Solow in recent years, and the international flavour of this year’s renewal makes it a race that would certainly not look out of place at the cosmopolitan Royal meeting this year, with Japanese, English and German challengers attempting to wrestle the prize away from French hands.

At the beginning of this century, the likes of John Gosden, Saeed bin Suroor and Luca Cumani all saddled winners of the Prix d’Ispahan. Since 2004, however, the French have won every renewal, and they look to have a strong hand again this year, headed by Prix du Jockey Club winner New Bay, who narrowly tops the adjusted Timeform ratings.

New Bay gave the impression he was best at the weights in the Poulains d’Essai des Poulains last season when finishing well for second from a poor draw, and confirmed that promise when beating Highland Reel by a length and a half in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly next time. He was campaigned towards the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the autumn after that, in which he finished third behind Golden Horn (beaten just over two lengths) with a career-best effort. Though he stays a mile and a half, he also has plenty of speed (sealed a smooth win in the Prix Niel with his turn of foot) and the drop back to this trip is not a concern. He is, however, the type to carry some condition, and whether this run will put him right for a crack at the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next month, remains to be seen.

Japanese raider A Shin Hikari is also entered in the Prince of Wales’s, and arrives here after a career-best effort by quite some way when winning the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin in December. A winner of nine of his eleven starts, he is clearly worthy of respect here, though conditions in France are likely to be much different than those he has experienced to date, and with Royal Ascot on the horizon he could be another who may come on for this outing and has more to prove than some here.

Next in the ratings comes Dariyan, who was comfortably accounted for by New Bay when the pair met at Deauville last season. Alain de Royer-Dupré’s colt has seemingly improved plenty since then, however, and returned from a spell in Dubai (finished behind the top-class Postponed on two occasions) to put up a high-class performance himself in taking the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Saint-Cloud at the beginning of the month, beating the re-opposing Silver Wave by a length and a quarter (despite being short of room two furlongs out).

With Arc-fifth Erupt also conceding race fitness to Dariyan here, and the British challengers Mondialiste and My Dream Boat having a bit more to find with the principals at this level (though My Dream Boat is seemingly still improving and is not easily underestimated), Dariyan could emulate Sageburg, who won this race for the same connections in 2008.

Timeform weight-adjusted ratings for the Prix d’Ispahan

NEW BAY 140

A SHIN HIKARI (JPN) 139

DARIYAN (FR) 138

ERUPT (IRE) 137

SILVERWAVE (FR) 135

VADAMOS (FR) 135

MONDIALISTE (IRE) 134

MY DREAM BOAT (IRE) 134

WILD CHIEF (GER) 130