Battaash drawn on stands' side against 15 rivals in Prix de l'Abbaye

Most of the leading contenders for Sunday's Prix de l'Abbaye (4.25) have been drawn towards the stands' side rail, with Battaash, Havana Grey, juvenile Soldier's Call and the supplemented Tantheem all housed among the six lowest stall numbers.

Sixteen were declared for the sprint, which will now be the sixth race on the card and thus fall outside ITV's coverage.

Large fields look set to be the order of the day outside of the two juvenile Group 1s which open proceedings, with both the Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere having suffered defections at the final declaration stage on Friday morning.

The wide-margin winner of a Gowran maiden, Pink Dogwood is now the sole representative for Aidan O'Brien in a field of eight in the Prix Marcel Boussac (1.20)

Anthony Van Dyck misses the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1.55), leaving Coolmore to rely on Broome, who was last seen chasing home Madhmoon at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend.

It is difficult to argue with Carlos Laffon-Parias' assessment that the 16-strong Prix de l'Opera (3.50) is the deepest field of the day.

Ranged against fillies of the calibre of Wild Illusion, Magic Wand and With You, Laffon-Parias saddles Castellar.

He said: "This is a proper Group 1 and the hardest race of the day. Castellar has shown she's among the best fillies in France but there are some really good horses from Britain and Ireland in there against her."

The Group 1 action is rounded off by the Prix de la Foret (5.00), in which Gerald Mosse will need every bit of his knowhow after Sir Dancealot was drawn widest of all in stall 16 on the Longchamp seven furlong 'Toboggan.'

The ground was good to soft (3.4 on the penetrometer) on Friday. There is as much as 6mm of rain predicted by some forecasters for Sunday, but both the amount and the time of its arrival varies considerably.

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