Dabirsim (second left) was reeled in by Dragon Pulse (right) last time out
PICTURE: SCOOPDYGA.COMD-Day for Dabirsim in Longchamp Classic
Preview: France, Sunday 3.10pm BST
Longchamp: Poule d'Essai des Poulains (Group 1) 1m, 3yo colts
DABIRSIM (Christophe Ferland/Christophe Soumillon) arrives at his hour of destiny with his jockey probably expecting to have already picked up one Classic on the day courtesy of BeautyParlour.
The pressure on both Soumillon and Dabirsim's young trainer Christophe Ferland has been racheted up by the loss of the colt'sunbeaten tag in controversial fashion last month.
The son of Hat Trick burst clear of his field in the Prix de Fontainebleau but with Soumillon under orders not to give Dabirsim too hard a race on his comeback, Dragon Pulse reeled himin to score by a short head.
The consensus from the camp which emerged in the days that followed was that Ferland's dual Group 1 winner had pulled away much of his energy in the early stages, prompting owner Simon Springer to lease Veneto (Thierry Thulliez) for the day.
"I hope there's more pace than in the Fontainebleau, which is why he has a pacemaker," said Ferland.
None of this should detract from the effort of Dragon Pulse (Mikel Delzangles/Gregory Benoist), who was making his first start for Delzangles since joining from Jessica Harrington's yard.
MikelDelzangles: pleased with condition of Dragon Pulse
PICTURE: Martin Lynch"It was a super seasonal debut," suggested the Chantilly handler. "He's made the improvement you would expect after a comeback like that and I'm very happy with him."
While most of the French press have been concentrating on the Fontainebleau rematch, there is plenty of foreign opposition on hand potentially to spoil the party.
Coupe De Ville (Richard Hannon/Richard Hughes) makes a quick reappearance after finishing fifth in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas.
Gregorian (John Gosden/William Buick) is making his first start in pattern company, while Telwaar (Peter Chapple-Hyam/Gerald Mosse) arrives off the back of his win in the Bet At bluesquare.com European Free Handicap on his first start since August.
Aidan O'Brien sends Furner's Green (Joseph O'Brien) and Vault (Colm O'Donoghue) in search of a fourth successin the race.
Furner's Green has looked steeply progressive in his most recent two starts and was bred by O'Brien which would certainly be cause for extra satisfaction were he to prevail.
If there is to be a surprise from within French ranks it could conceivably come from Beauvoir (Jean-Claude Rouget/Christophe Lemaire), who looked all set to hack up in a Group 3 over 1m2f last month before running out of stamina.
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