Late Show

Staged at Chantilly with its usual host, Longchamp, undergoing works, Sunday’s G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris is very much an endgame of the European season but also offers the chance for Ectot (GB) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) to revive his fortunes. At the top of his country’s crop after a win in the 2013 G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, Al Shaqab Racing’s acquisition was a live candidate for the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October after returning from injury to win the G2 Prix Niel at Longchamp, but failed to get involved in the main event when 17th of the 20 runners. Last of nine on an ambitious comeback in Royal Ascot’s G1 Prince of Wales’s S. on good-to-firm going June 17, the bay was again below-par on a contrasting heavy surface when third in the Sept. 18 G3 La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte over 10 furlongs and has questions to answer now. Freddy Head supplies an interesting contender in Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani’s 3-year-old Migwar (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who was third in the most recent renewal of the Niel last time Sept. 13 after finishing second to the re-opposing Ming Dynasty (Fr) (King’s Best) in the Aug. 25 Listed Grand Prix de Clairefontaine. If he is able to return to the form of his win in the G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly and G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud–which he subsequently lost after testing positive for a prohibited substance–over this trip last June, the increasingly frustrating Spiritjim (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}) has strong claims. Now with the Alain Couetil stable, the bay enjoyed a brief revival when second to Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in Longchamp’s G2 Prix Foy Sept. 13, but his confidence may have suffered another bruising when 12th in the Arc a fortnight ago.