Proud And Regal out to put Donnacha O'Brien on Criterium roll of honour

The final two juvenile Group 1s of the French season can often feature lightly raced prospects and established top-level form is, unsurprisingly, in short supply.

But placed horses from the feature juvenile contests at Irish Champions Weekend and Arc day feature here, suggesting these could be above-average editions.

Proud And Regal found only Al Riffa too strong in the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes and Donnacha O'Brien and the Coolmore partners have elected to send the Tyros Stakes winner to the Criterium International (12.58 Sky) rather than face Derby favourite Auguste Rodin at Doncaster.

"He has come out of his last run well and the step up in trip to a mile will suit him," said O'Brien. "We are unsure about whether he will handle the very soft ground but hopefully he will handle it and run well.

Espionage and Ryan Moore were well on top at the Curragh last monthCredit: Patrick McCann

Espionage displayed a high cruising speed and a fine attitude when making the most of his rail draw to lead throughout in a Curragh maiden over seven furlongs and is not dismissed lightly under Aidan O'Brien's favourite Basque pilot, Ioritz Mendizabal.

Kubrick showed a nice turn of foot to come from last to first on ground described officially as soft in the Prix des Chenes at Longchamp and, while his action doesn't scream a desire for testing conditions, seven of Jean-Claude Rouget's ten winners this month have been with two-year-olds.

"He's a very good colt and has already won his Group 3 so we don't have much choice but to go to the Criterium," said Rouget.

Syros went down by three-quarters of a length to the Aidan O'Brien-trained Continuous in the Prix Thomas Bryon, before being disqualified on account of jockey Christophe Soumillon's errant elbow.

Salt Bay bids to vault from debut success straight to Group 1 winner in the Criterium InternationalCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Salt Bay bids to give Ralph Beckett back-to-back wins in this race after Angel Bleu last year and must be marked up given his debut success at Haydock was achieved despite fly-jumping some imagined obstacle inside the two-furlong marker.

Beckett has a 33 per cent strike-rate in French Group races stretching back over the last 24 months, with four of his five winners during that period coming at Group 1 level.

Can Gan Teorainn complete the Criterium double for rare visitor Jim Bolger?

More top-class form is on show courtesy of Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Gan Teorainn, who could hold the key to the longer Criterium de Saint-Cloud (1.33 Sky).

Jim Bolger stepped Gan Teorainn up in class considerably at Longchamp – just seven days after finishing runner-up in the Weld Stakes – and if the daughter of Saxon Warrior thrives for this 1m2f trip as Bolger expects, then the form of her five-length defeat to Blue Rose Cen gives her a leading chance.

Bolger won the Criterium International a decade ago with Loch Garman, a colt with much less obvious claims than Gan Teorainn, and who was his most recent runner at this meeting.

Juddmonte's Arrest went into plenty of notebooks after coasting to success in novice company last time and John and Thady Gosden have had no hesitation in aiming much higher.

"It's a big step from a novice at Ffos Las but he shapes as if this trip should suit and we've had this race in mind for some time," said John Gosden. "We think he'll handle the ground which is described as holding over there."

Dubai Mile just failed to make all in the Royal Lodge and Daniel Muscutt might be expected to be at least as positive here, while Ndaawi and Cite D'Or reoppose after finishing one-two in a win-and-you're-in conditions race for the Derby at Epsom last month.

Kubrick's performance 35 minutes earlier could give a big clue to the chances of Adelaide River, whose pair of placed efforts in Group races – one of which came when a neck behind Kubrick in the Prix des Chenes – point to him as the more likely of the Aidan O'Brien duo with Mendizabal riding.

The booking of Dylan Browne McMonagle alone makes Tipperary maiden winner Covent Garden interesting, while his full brother Johannes Vermeer won the Criterium International on this card seven years ago.

Dylan Browne McMonagle has been called up by Aidan O'Brien for the Group 1 ride on Covent GardenCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

"We're going beyond a mile for the first time with Adelaide River but we always thought he would get further and we think he will be happy over this trip," said O'Brien. "He has come out of the Beresford in good form and we've been very happy with him.

"Covent Garden won over 1m1f at Tipperary and he certainly wasn't stopping at the line so we don't think the trip will be a problem for him either. He has progressed with every run and hopefully that improvement will continue here."

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