Frankel double-handed in first European Group 1 of the season

Dual world champion Frankel will have two rolls of the dice in the first European Group 1 of the season - the 1m2½f Prix Ganay at Longchamp - with Champion Stakes hero Cracksman and Group 2 winner Finche both set to line up.

Cracksman became the first elite winner in Europe for his sire last year when romping to a seven-length success at Ascot, while Finche was sixth to Air Pilot in a bunch finish to the Prix d'Harcourt earlier this month.

Last year's winner Cloth Of Stars bids for a repeat success while dual Group 1 winner Rhododendron is the only filly in the field.

Air Pilot, a nine-year-old Zamindar gelding, flew home in the Prix d'Harcourt - a particularly noteworthy victory considering his age. He matched the achievement of Gordon Lord Byron, who was the oldest Group 2 winner in Europe last season at nine.

Medaglia D'Oro colt Wren's Day and Doyen entire Wild Chief complete the line-up.

Elsewhere at Longchamp, Group 1 winner Ice Breeze returns to action in the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville. The four-year-old son of Nayef, out of the Dansili mare Winter Silence and therefore a brother to Snow Sky, was last seen getting the better of the hugely talented Vazirabad in the Prix Royal-Oak in October.

That same race featured Godolphin's Kitesurf, who will line up in the day's other Group 3 contest, the Prix Allez France Longines. Trained by Andre Fabre, the four-year-old is a daughter of Dubawi and Group 3 winner Shimmering Surf.

Meanwhile, Italy's equivalent of the 1,000 Guineas, the Premio Regina Elena, takes place at Capannelle with the unbeaten Mujahid filly Act Of War seeking to bring up a hat-trick.

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