Events / Graham Cunningham / 03 October 2008 / 1 Comments

Racing UK's top man sums up his Saturday backs and lays on day one of a huge weekend in horseracing.

The Saturday menu is sumptuous even by French standards. Newmarket serves up the Sun Chariot and the Cambridgeshire on Saturday, while day one of Longchamp's Arc weekend has champion stayer Yeats as star attraction. Racing UK analyst Graham Cunningham has plans to be a gourmet but suspects he will succumb to gluttony as he seeks out the best angles on the premier weekend of the Flat season.

Friday 9am: I've just noticed my Saturday flight departs at 6am. That means a 4am alarm call. Not ideal, but croissants and coffee at a Paris street café by nine sounds fair enough.

9.30am: Best to get the Cambridgeshire (3.50) out of the way first. Some will say it's the big betting race of the weekend, but the fact that 10 million people watch Strictly Come Dancing doesn't make it great and I'm lukewarm on this cavalry charge. Rather than try and find the winner from dozens of possibles I'll look to nick a few quid in the place market. Swop looks a vulnerable favourite and appeals as a place lay at a little over [3.0], while Prince Kalamoun also offers place lay mileage from a career high mark.

10am: The Sun Chariot Stakes (Saturday 3.15) will play a big part in deciding how my punting weekend goes. Two internet firms went 6-1 about Darjina on Tuesday morning. It looked way too big and, now Lush Lashes doesn't run, it looks even bigger. The French raider has conditions to suit after several fine efforts against Europe's very best milers. Will I lay off to save the stake? Probably. Would I put you off taking [3.3] or thereabouts against this lot if you aren't already involved? Not in the slightest.

10.10am: It's always worth checking out the lesser cards in search of a bet on big days and Cloudy Start will be very tough to beat in Redcar's 1.25. Henry Cecil's colt has earned an official mark of 86 and has shown more than enough to suggest he can land a maiden. Taazur is the danger on ratings, but the one I will be looking to save on is Battle Royal. Bryan Smart's colt shaped much better than the bare result suggests on his Hamilton debut and could be a market springer here.

10.15am: The woman who presents This Morning (I think she might be Eamonn Holmes's other half) has just described Jonathan Ross's backing group Four Puffs And A Piano as "legendary." Dear god.

10.30am: The Prix Chaudenay (12.45) looks tough, not least because of the presence of several front runners. Centennial holds sound prospects if he stays, while Shemima ir proven at the trip and thriving on racing. It's intriguing to see Johnny Murtagh's name against Hold Me Love Me rather than stablemate Hindu Kush. The latter has the better form, whereas Hold Me Love Me has looked very one paced. She looks place lay material on a track which usually favours the gliders over the grinders.

11.10am: It's tempting to keep things simple in the Prix de la Foret at 2.20. Paco Boy had Natagora behind when third in the Moulin here and looks highly likely to confirm the form, while African Rose holds Utmost Respect, US Ranger and Astronomer Royal on several pieces of form and ought to have their measure again if she is on song. A solid gallop looks assured given the presence of Welsh Emperor and Duff, but the proven Group 1 performers should come to the fore late and I favour the relentlessly progressive Paco Boy, who has a telling turn of foot which could prove crucial on his return to seven furlongs.

11.40am: A weather watch is essential before lumping on Yeats to make amends for his shock defeat in this race last year. The Ballydoyle star simply failed to quicken out of holding ground on his first visit to Longchamp 12 months ago, but the forecast for Saturday in Paris looks favourable and anything like the form he showed at Ascot and Goodwood this summer will make him mighty hard to beat.

Last year's winner Le Miracle hasn't fired since, while Ponte Tresa has an ordinary strike rate in Pattern races overall, so if Yeats is to be challenged then Kasbah Bliss looks the most likely lad. Francois Doumen's star hurdler produced a striking performance in a Group 3 contest here last month and a sound surface would suit him every bit as well as Yeats for this stiffer assignment.

Noon: News has just come through that Zarkava has been drawn 1 for the Arc and that Duke Of Marmalade is in stall 14. As Barry Davies once said: "Interesting. Very Interesting."