It’s difficult to gauge the merits of the French form at this stage of the season but the unbeaten Contortioniste, Tantheem and Over Reacted have all won conditions races while Mister Picnic was placed in a Listed contest and collateral form has him closely matched with UK raider Debutante’s Ball. But Stan Moore’s charge had finished well behind DARKANNA in the Queen Mary at Ascot earlier and the latter faced another tough task in a Group 2 at Newmarket behind Clemmie last time. Richard Fahey’s filly will find this easier and may well prove good enough.
Blue Tango (GER) (8-12) 4th of 8, 3 1/4l behind Contortioniste (8-12) at Deauville 6f stks (1) gd in Jul.
Mister Picnic (FR) (9-2) 3rd of 10, 1 1/2l behind Ardenode (9-2) at Maisons-Laffitte 5f lst stks gd in Jun.
Frizzanto (FR) (9-2) won at Saint-Cloud 6f stks gd in Jul beating African Sky (9-2) by 3/4l, 5 ran.
Contortioniste (8-12) won at Deauville 6f stks (1) gd in Jul beating Simmy's Copshop (8-12) by hd, 8 ran.
Tantheem (9-2) won at Deauville 6f mdn stks gd in Jul beating Marvellous Night (9-2) by 4 1/2l, 9 ran.
Over Reacted (FR) (8-7) won at Chantilly 5f stks gd in Jun beating The Pantry (8-12) by 1 1/4l, 5 ran.
Debutante's Ball (IRE) 12-1 (8-1) Raced near side, held up, pushed along halfway, went 2nd in group well over 1f out, no chance with leaders in centre, 14th of 23, 12 1/4l behind Bengali Boys (8-7) at Newbury 5f stks (2) sft in Jul.
Darkanna (IRE) 25-1 (9-0) Held up in last pair, pushed along over 2f out, no headway, ridden and beaten over 1f out, 7th of 8, 5 1/2l behind Clemmie (9-0) at Newmarket 6f Grp 2 fll stks (1) gf in Jul.