Cirrus Des Aigles: tries a new trip for the first time in a competitive Group 1

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Preview: France, Sunday (2.40pm BST)
Saint-Cloud: Prix Royal-Oak (Group 1) 1m7½f, 3yo+

TWO of European Flat racing’s biggest box office draws will be united for the first time this afternoon when Frankie Dettori climbs aboard the veteran showstopper Cirrus Des Aigles, who has never raced beyond the 1m4½ f trip of the Grand Prix de Deauville in 65 career starts.

‘Fighting Cirrus’ is not the only injection of quality from the middle distance ranks in France’s version of the St Leger, with Siljan’s Saga having finished just two lengths behind Treve in the Arc, a race which Andre Fabre used as a stepping stone to this target for 11th placed Manatee.

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Even among the stayers there is fresh blood, with trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre hopeful that easy Prix Chaudenay winner Vazirabad can make the expected transition to Group 1 company as a three-year-old, while Alex My Boy is given his chance having missed both the Prix du Cadran and British Champions Day because of unsuitably fast ground.

Mille Et Mille ensured the Cadran was a real test, with Kicky Blue and the Hughie Morrison-trained Fun Mac the only others to really get competitive.

All three turn out again here, as does sixth-placed Walzertatkt. Eric Libaud deliberately skipped the Longchamp marathon with Prix Gladiateur winner Fly With Me and will be one of the trainers less concerned by a lack of really testing ground at a Saint-Cloud described officially as soft to very soft after a mild and largely dry week.

Avoid three-year-olds
With the race’s relocation during the Longchamp redevelopment, historical comparisons are difficult. Vazirabad and Pilansberg are attempting to change a poor recent record for three-year-olds, with Les Beaufs the only winner from the Classic generation in the last 12 editions.

What they say

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to Jabber Abdullah, owner of Alex My Boy
This is a better race than he has tackled but he is a horse who stays very well and the softer the ground the better for him. Andreas Wohler tells me he is in top form, which he has been throughout the time when he unfortunately didn’t get his ground in those other races.

Corine Barande-Barbe, trainer of Cirrus Des Aigles
Cirrus worked well on the grass the other day and is very supple and generally moving well. The question mark is stepping up in distance but I think he will enjoy the easier rhythm of the race. His recent runs have been at an elevated tempo and on fast ground. It’s an experiment but I am nonetheless very confident.

Eric Libaud, trainer of Fly With Me
It’s a proper Group 1 and I am particularly concerned by the Aga Khan’s horse at the bottom. But my horse is fresh and has been prepared specifically for the race.

Lisa-Jane Graffard, representative in France for Godolphin, owners of Manatee
Manatee took his race in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe really well and the Prix Royal-Oak has been his goal for a long time. It’s a fairly tough looking race but we are hopeful that he will run well.

Hughie Morrison, trainer of Fun Mac
This looks a totally different kettle of fish to Longchamp, with class horses like Cirrus Des Aigles and the Aga Khan’s three-year-old, who looked very good last time. We feel he’s taken the race and the travelling back and forth very well but you never really know until they run. I don’t know whether he might be better over two and a half miles but I am hopeful there might be a bit of pace on, which would help.

Carlos Lerner, co-trainer of Mille Et Mille
He remains in good form and had a nice pipeopener this morning [Friday]. The ground won’t be any issue to him and he he won a handicap at Saint-Cloud at the start of the season. This is a much better race than the Cadran but after that victory, he owes us nothing.

Jean-Pierre Gauvin, trainer of Siljan’s Saga
She was a bit quiet straight after the Arc but she soon recovered and I think she is in better form than when running in this race 12 months ago. I’m still a little bit worried about the trip but she ran well enough last year when not getting the clearest of runs. She hasn’t really had her ground this year so she has needed to be better, which she is.

David Smaga, trainer of Pilansberg
He has been very consistent all year, though he hasn’t always been too lucky. I think he is very good and a three-year-old who remains in good form can be a threat in this race, whereas the horses who ran in the Arc might find it difficult to back up. He goes on any ground.

Alain de Royer-Dupre, trainer of Vazirabad
He is in very good form and my impression is that he hasn’t been having particularly hard races. It remains to be seen how he copes if it were to get very soft.