State of Rest Returns in Stout Prix Ganay Test

Who was the best 3-year-old trained in Ireland last year behind the now-retired pair of St Mark's Basilica  and Poetic Flare ?

Congratulations if your answer was State of Rest , whose most recent performance on home soil was a comeback third in the listed Celebration Stakes at the Curragh last summer on Irish Derby weekend.

Since then Joseph O'Brien has earned two huge foreign paydays for his owners as the son of Starspangledbanner  picked up the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) in the United States before downing Australia's two best weight-for-age performers, Anamoe and Verry Elleegant in the Ladbrokes Cox Plate (G1).

If the Southern Hemisphere weights-and-measures experts are correct, then he heads to a select May 1 Prix Ganay (G1) with arguably the best form. State of Rest will be the only runner making his seasonal debut, while it would be difficult to find more contrasting layouts than the lefthanded tourniquet of Moonee Valley and the wide-open right sweep of Longchamp.

"He's wintered well and I've had this race in mind for a little while," O'Brien said. "We've been very pleased with his preparation. Obviously, it's a very competitive race, meeting the best in France, but all that said, we're hoping for a big run. Hopefully, he can get a share of the prize money."

By contrast, Skalleti  is very much in his favorite playground, and if Maxime Guyon can keep him in touch on what is likely to be faster going than he would like, his turn of foot will be hard to resist.

Sealiway  and Mare Australis  don't have too much to find with Skalleti on their meeting in the April 10 Prix d'Harcourt (G2) on what was in effect a comeback run for both horses (Sealiway's trip to Riyadh was short-lived and can be ignored).

Mare Australis was back off an 11-month layoff and ran the same race to the pound as when beaten in last year's renewal, after which he made all the running in a Skalleti-less Ganay.

Sealiway also wants a strong pace to run, and arguably the Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) back at Ascot will provide his optimum test.

"I have him a lot better than he was ahead of the Prix d'Harcourt," said Sealiway's trainer, Francis Graffard. "I think he really needed the run. We’ve put a pacemaker in there to ensure it doesn’t turn into a false race, and everything is in place for a good run."

Pretty Tiger  has been in the headlines this week for an enforced change of yards from banned Fabrice Vermeulen to Pia Brandt and probably needs to find upwards of 5 pounds from his win in the March 19 Prix Exbury (G3).

Skalleti Ready to Roll Again

At the start of the week, trainer Jerome Reynier was warning that the ultra-consistent and classy Skalleti might not make the trip on account of the lack of rain. But the 7-year-old has clearly given him all the signs that he is ready for his next group 1 assignment, having outsprinted Sealiway and Mare Australis from his habitual stalking position in the Prix d'Harcourt three weeks ago.

"His optimum conditions are when the ground is soft, but he won the Prix d'Ispahan on pretty quick ground and I think they covered the last three furlongs in :32 seconds," Reynier said.

Twelve months ago, Skalleti was given the same preparation in the Exbury and the Harcourt, before Reynier elected not to take in the Ganay, in part at least because of the travel up and down from his base in Calas, near Marseille.

"I think he's in the same physical condition as before the Harcourt, and the question is more over how he takes three races—and 4,500 km by road—in the space of six weeks," Reynier said. "We chose to avoid that last year, and it is only because he is in top form that we are trying this time."