Longchamp Tips: Winning start for home team with Shankardeh

Longchamp Arc Meeting / Isabel Mathew / 30 September 2011 / Leave a Comment

Longchamp will be simmering under a golden sun on Saturday

"Still improving with only four races under her belt, Shankardeh takes on four other rivals in the Prix Chaudenay."

Turfcom's Isabel Mathew brings a little local knowledge to Betting.Betfair's Arc meeting coverage with a look at the highlights of day one

A day before the main event, the Aga Khan looks set to start the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend as he means to go on at Longchamp on Saturday. Most notably, this comes with leading chance Shankardeh in the Prix Chaudenay, one of four Group 2s on the card.

Still improving with only four races under her belt, Shankardeh takes on four other rivals in the long-distance event. In June she ran a quarter-of-a-length second to Arc runner Testosterone (beating Danedream) in a similar event, and then finished a decent second to Meeznah in a Group 3 at Goodwood last time over longer.

Three out of the five contenders are by Montjeu with preferences for soft ground. With fast going expected, the best of these looks to be Pacifique, winner over the course and distance in the Prix de Lutece last month by a neck from Miss Lago. Dual Listed winner Gaily Game, the only colt in the field, also beat the latter by three lengths in August.

Placed no worse than second in four starts at Longchamp, three time Group 1 winner Rio de la Plata may be getting a bit long in the tooth, but he seems to enjoy the course and distance of the Prix Daniel Wildenstein.

Runner-up to Excelebration in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp last month for the second year running, the Saeed Bin Suroor-trained six-year-old takes on Rajsaman once more, whom he beat by half a length in the same race.

With a poor turnout of only four runners in the Prix de Royallieu, the British challenge looks set to take centre stage. Lightly-raced Listed scorer Modeyra looks to have this in her grasp, and will be advantaged by the going. This will be her first time over longer, previously only having run over 1m2f.

Roger Charlton's Sea of Heartbreak could also be in with a good chance, having won a Listed race at Newbury on her penultimate start before finishing third in the Arc Trial at Newbury last time. She was beaten three lengths by Modeyra when they met last October.

Winner of the Prix Dollar last year, the dependable Cirrus des Aigles looks in prime position to repeat that victory, following a 10 length success in a similar event in August.

In May, the five-year-old, who often front runs or is close to the pace, finished a quarter-of-a-length behind Goldikova, and the same distance behind Sarafina a month later.

The ex-Andre Fabre trained French Navy caught the eye as a two-year-old, and after a 10 month lay off due to injury has since won both his starts including a Group 3 at Goodwood last time by an impressive two and a half lengths. He is sure to go close, and has already won at Longchamp.