Albaflora primed for Prix Vermeille challenge

Simon Milham
September 9, 2022 4:38 pm

And Royal Aclaim back in action after Nunthorpe disappointment.

Albaflora makes her belated return to action in the Qatar Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp on Sunday, with trainer Ralph Beckett hopeful she can overcome a wide draw.

Last season, the smart mare chased home Snowfall in the Yorkshire Oaks before being short-headed by Eshaada at Ascot on Qipco British Champions Day.

Having made her seasonal debut in the Group Three Ormonde Stakes at Chester in May, she suffered a setback.

The Kirsten Rausing-owned daughter of Muhaarar will take on 10 rivals, who include Aidan O’Brien’s Oaks winner Tuesday and Gianluca Bietolini’s Prince of Wales’s third, Grand Glory.

Big-race jockey Rossa Ryan will have to navigate a path from stall 10 in the mile-and-a-half Group One contest and Beckett, who will be at Doncaster to oversee Haskoy’s St Leger bid, is confident he will be able to.

“She had a problem after her run at Chester and she has taken a long time to get back,” said the Kimpton-based handler.

“She is fit and well and is ready for this. It should set up well for her – she has had a racecourse gallop and trained well at home, so we are fit and ready to go.

“She doesn’t have the best of draws, but it is not a massive field, so we will be able to work it out.

“She was ready for the Yorkshire Oaks, but Miss Rausing preferred to go here, so we’re ready to go. The plan is Champions Day after this.”

Whoosh! Albaflora stuns them to win the @ToteRacing Buckhounds Stakes in a rout 😮@Rossaryan15 at the reins for @RalphBeckett 👏
Watch LIVE 📺 @ITV4📱 https://t.co/dzSEQkleBh #ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/RolJhv1E7e
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 8, 2021

With Frankie Dettori booked to ride Haskoy, Christophe Soumillon comes in for the ride on Verry Elleegant in the Group Two Qatar Prix Foy.

Connections of the mare, who was previously trained in Australia by Chris Waller, winning the 2021 Melbourne Cup and 10 other Group One races on home turf, had cited the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as her ultimate target.

She proved disappointing on her European debut when last of seven to Aristia in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville.

However, the seven-year-old, who is in the care of Chantilly-based Francis-Henri Graffard, will be a warm order as she takes on five rivals, including the O’Brien-trained High Definition, in the 12-furlong event.

Royal Aclaim drops back in class for the Group Three Qatar Prix du Petit Couvert, having been a beaten favourite in the Nunthorpe at York.

Royal Aclaim is back in calmer waters after her Nunthorpe defeat (Nigel French/PA)

Previously impressive in the Listed City Walls over the same course and distance, Andrea Atzeni’s mount bids to restore the faith trainer James Tait has always had in her.

Tate said: “Obviously everything was going great until the Nunthorpe and that didn’t go quite so well.

“She was on the wrong side of the track and it was a big step up from Listed to Group One.

“We have been very happy with her since and we toyed with the Flying Five (Curragh) but it has 19 runners and it looked like being soft ground over there, which is an unknown.

“So we decided just to go back to where we started on her ladder which was two novices followed by a Listed, so the next step is a Group Three.

“Hopefully everything will go well in France on Sunday and we can step up again thereafter.

“We are learning about her all the time. We have a reasonable draw (stall six), the ground looked pretty good from what I could see on the TV on Thursday, and on the five (furlong track) there is a separate strip anyway.”