By Tom Frary
Tuesday's action at Deauville takes on an extra dimension with the return to the fray of last year's champion Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron Hong Kong Jockey Club. It was at this meeting last year that Antonio Caro and Gerard Augustin-Normand's bay began to be taken seriously on an international level as he dealt with a clutch of smart colts in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano en route to G1 English and Irish Champion S. glory. He was already a winner of the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at that stage, but as his win in that Classic had come at 20-1 he needed to demonstrate that it was no fluke and he did so in style before beating the very best at Leopardstown and Ascot. “It's a very big day,” Augustin-Normand's racing manager Sylvain Vidal said. “We'll see what happens, but it's exciting. He worked very well last week. Jean-Claude is very happy with the horse.” Despite his lengthy absence, defeat will be a huge upset, especially as he is getting three pounds from the June 17 G3 La Coupe second and third Garlingari (Fr) (Linngari {Ire}) and First Sitting (GB) (Dansili {GB}).
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