Fabrice Vermeulen saddles the top two in a wide-open handicap. Both are fit from the all-weather so it’s difficult to choose between the pair with Maxime Guyon riding Matandar and Cristian Demuro on Richemont. TOP MAX only won once in 2019, at Le Lion d’Angers, but also placed at Longchamp, Chantilly and Maisons-Laffitte and the Joshua Tree gelding might be the one to beat if fully wound-up as he’s better off at the weights than when beaten a short-neck by Moonlight Symphony on his final start. Kiev is well drawn, near the foot of the weights and ended last year with a win on the all-weather at Deauville so could play a part and a case can also be made for Hallalulu and Reliable Son.
Matandar (FR) (8-10) 7th of 12, 5 1/4l behind Collide (8-12) at Cagnes-sur-Mer 1m 4f lst stks (1) pol in Feb.
Richemont (FR) (8-12) 5th of 7, 3l behind Ziyad (9-3) at Chantilly 1m 1f stks pol in Mar.
Fairmont (FR) (9-6) 6th of 10, 6 1/2l behind Zarkallani (8-13) at Chantilly 1m 1f stks pol in Mar.
Carter And Go (FR) (9-3) 5th of 8, 6 1/4l behind Think Of Me (8-11) at Fontainebleau 1m 3f stks hvy in Mar.
Top Max (FR) (9-8) 2nd of 14, shd behind Moonlight Symphony (8-8) at Maisons-Laffitte 1m 2f hcp gs in Oct.
Hallalulu (8-10) 2nd of 10, 3l behind Zarkallani (8-13) at Chantilly 1m 1f stks pol in Mar.
Reliable Son (FR) (9-3) 2nd of 10, shd behind Freedom Rising (8-10) at Chantilly 1m 1f stks in Dec.
Noxareno (GER) (8-12) 5th of 16, 1 1/4l behind Furious Des Aigles (8-4) at Chantilly 1m 1f hcp pol in Mar.
Gaius (FR) (8-13) 9th of 16, 8 1/2l behind Anecdotic (8-6) at Saint-Cloud 1m 4f hcp hvy in Mar.
Cressida (FR) (9-1) 7th of 13, 2 1/4l behind King Of Twist (8-10) at Deauville 1m 1f hcp hvy in Oct.
Big Death (FR) (8-13) 3rd of 10, 4 1/2l behind Zarkallani (8-13) at Chantilly 1m 1f stks pol in Mar.
Rosissim (FR) (9-5) 7th of 12, 5l behind Infinite Passion (9-2) at Deauville 1m 1f stks pol in Mar.
Moonlight Symphony (FR) (8-9) 5th of 8, 10 1/2l behind Matandar (8-12) at Toulouse 1m 2f stks sft in Nov.
Kiev (FR) (8-9) won at Deauville 1m 1f stks pol in Dec beating King Of Twist (8-12) by shd, 7 ran.
Vysotsky (FR) (8-13) 7th of 8, 8 1/4l behind Think Of Me (8-11) at Fontainebleau 1m 3f stks hvy in Mar.
Krunch (9-1) last of 10, dist behind Joe Francais (9-2) at Bordeaux Le Bouscat 1m 1f stks gd in Feb.
La Roseliere (FR) (9-6) won at Angers 1m 2f hcp hvy in Nov beating Arum (9-4) by 2l, 13 ran.
Attirance (FR) (9-2) 13th of 15, 30 1/4l behind Pirata Tesoro (8-9) at ParisLongchamp 1m 4f hcp hvy in Oct.