Longchamp Racing Tips: Big Rock can bag his first Group One

• French Derby runner-up will be hard to beat

• Havana Cigar can end Beauvatier's winning run

• Smart Spanish colt each-way value

---

Given we have had English and Irish runners at Longchamp on Thursday, Auteuil on Friday and Craon on Saturday, it is surprising to see no UK or Irish lining up for the five Group races at Longchamp on Sunday.

That's good news for the home team, as the races are less competitive as a result.

Longchamp - 15:33 - Back Big Rock

The feature race is the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp at 15:33.

The favourite, and deservedly so, is Big Rock 10/111.91, runner-up to the Arc favourite Ace Impact in the French Derby and second to Inspiral in the Prix Jacques Le Marois on good to soft at Deauville.

An easy winner on his only previous visit to Longchamp in April, he ticks more boxes than any of his rivals.

Kelina 14/115.00 threw her hat in the ring to be considered a top three-year-old miler by winning the Group 2 Prix Sandringham at Chantilly in June.

That is decent form, as she beat the consistent Sauterne, but her form at the top level reads 12th, 4th and 8th so she is not for me.

Sauterne 11/112.00, on the other hand, has been placed in the three Group 1s she has contested - the French 1,000 Guineas, the Prix Jean Prat and the Prix Rothschild. She will more than likely make it four from four, so appeals each-way but I can't see her beating Big Rock.

Belbek is the only Group 1 winner in the line-up, having won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere here at Longchamp last October.

He looks value at 33/134.00 on that run alone, but his form since has dropped away. He was four lengths behind Sauterne in the Prix Jean Prat at Deauville in July.

Facteur Cheval 3/14.00 would be the best of the older quartet, having chased home Paddington in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Third to Anmaat and Light Cavalry - and a neck ahead of Erevann 9/110.00 - in the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp before that, Facteur Cheval is better at four than in his first two seasons.

He is well worth considering, whereas Fast Raj 14/115.00 and Top Gear 20/121.00 look out of their depth despite their odds.

Longchamp - 12:45 - Back Havana Cigar

Beauvatier 2/51.40 is a worthy favourite for the seven-furlong Prix La Rochette at 12:45.

Listed winners aren't penalised and his win at that level at Deauville in July makes him the form pick.

Havana Cigar 4/15.00 could make a race of it with Beauvatier, though, if he copes with the extra furlong.

He won over six at Saint-Cloud and Chantilly before coming third to the Karl Burke-trained Elite Status over the same trip at Deauville at the end of July.

He is the only realistic alternative to the favourite, and the gap between them in the betting isn't justified.

Follow Me 16/117.00 has come second in two Deauville maidens. In the first of them he was only beaten a short head by Evade 8/19.00, who has since finished fourth of five in the Grouop 3 Prix Francois Boutin over seven at Deauville.

Ma Mome 40/141.00 has won three claimers and is with her third trainer of the summer. Only once out of the frame in eight starts, she always gives 100 per cent. This is her toughest task to date, though.

Orso 25/126.00 has won a couple of minor races in Milan over seven. Fou Furieux 33/134.00 has won a claimer over seven and a maiden over a mile, so has a tough task on her first visit to Paris.

I dislike stayers' races on the Paris circuit, so forgive me while I back into the bushes Homer Simpson-style and give the Prix Gladiateur at 13:30 a miss.

Longchamp - 14:05 - Back Birr Castle

Next up is the Prix du Prince d'Orange at 14:05, a Group 3 over 10 furlongs for three-year-olds.

The classiest runner is Horizon Dore 4/51.80, with a five-length Listed win over course and distance in June on his CV. He has since won the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam at Saint-Cloud impressively, earning a 4lb penalty for Sunday's race.

Birr Castle 9/25.50 was under a length behind the French Derby winner Ace Impact on his latest start - a Group 2 at Deauville over 10 furlongs on good to soft. His overall form doesn't match that of the favourite but he is improving and his odds are longer than I would have expected.

Both colts are using this as a trial for the Prix Dollar on the Arc weekend, so too are Mr Moliere 9/110.00 and Goliath 15/28.50.

The latter has not kept as good company as the other three but he has done everything asked of him, winning at Saint-Cloud and twice at Clairefontaine.

Mr Moliere was badly hampered and collided with the inner rail when 2/1 favourite and last of 11 in the Group 3 Prix Daphnis at Deauville over a mile.

This Mr Moliere's first stab at a longer trip and I can see him making the first three.

Longchamp - 16:08 - Back Naranco

Last year's winner, Monty 3/14.00, is back for La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte at 16:08.

The eight-year-old could hardly be called consistent but ran his best race this season when third to Place de Carrousel and Bolthole in a Group 3 last month at Deauville.

Prior to that he had finished four and a half lengths behind Naranco when the four-year-old was third to One For Bobby and Bolthole in a Group 3 at Vichy.

Naranco 6/17.00 is clearly far better than he was when failing to win novices' races at Kempton, Leicester and Salisbury for Ralph Beckett last year.

He has since won twice in Madrid and has each-way appeal in an open-looking Group 3.

True Testament 7/18.00 ended last year on a high, coming second in the Group 2s he contested at Deauville and Longchamp.

He was lifeless on his return, though, when last of seven behind Junko, Big Call and Alessio in the Group 3 Prix de Reux at Deauville.

On that run on heavy, you would have to fancy Alessio 7/18.00 to finish in front of True Testament, though I appreciate the going may have been the cause of what was an uncharacteristically abject performance.

---