Reign Triumphant?

Reduced to seven furlongs in a swap of distances with the Arc meeting’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Sunday’s G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud offers the opportunity for the rapidly progressive Donjuan Triumphant (Ire) (Dream Ahead) to bag a top-level success during his purple streak. Jumping up from a defeat of the subsequent listed winners Dhahmaan (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Gracious John (Ire) (Baltic King {GB}) in the Listed Rockingham S. at York Oct. 10 to annex the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte by 5 1/2 lengths six days later, Middleham Park Racing’s bay has to prove he has the stamina for this extra furlong, but the form of the latter contest received a boost on Saturday when the runner-up Dressed In Fur (Ire) (Excellent Art {GB}) went close in the G3 Prix Miesque. The syndicate’s spokesman Tom Palin is hopeful he has the requisite class for this test. “The way he put 5 1/2 lengths between himself and the field in the last furlong was impressive in anyone’s eyes,” he said. “He did have a tendency to pull up on the line, but that was through him being a bit green and babyish.” There is no issue with the staying power of Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is another thriving on a busy autumn campaign and who comes here just eight days after finishing second in the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster. Michael Tabor’s colorbearer was also fourth in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp Oct. 4 after winning the G3 Golden Fleece S. at Leopardstown Sept. 12. All three starts came over a mile and it will be no surprise to see positive tactics employed by Ryan Moore. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Tashweeq (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}) brings the form of Newmarket’s G1 Dewhurst S. into play, having been fourth in that Future Champions Day highlight when last seen Oct. 10, while the Wertheimers’ Sept. 6 G3 Prix la Rochelle winner Attendu (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) drops back to a more suitable trip having been eighth in the Lagardere last time. Jean Claude-Rouget’s representative is Ecurie Antonio Caro and Gerard Augustin-Normand’s unbeaten Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who looked more than ready for this kind of engagement when landing the Oct. 8 Listed Grand Criterium de Bordeaux in convincing fashion over a mile.