Prix Jacques le Marois (French goingstick debut)

Ground must be soft as PP A VERY SHORT fav

Looking for an angle against the market leaders I thought Chindit might be worth a little bet at 33/1.

Unbeaten in 4 when running on flat straight tracks. Admittedly the form of those wins isn't anything to write home about.

Hates the undulations of New'Mkt but actually ran commendably in the Guineas given he was drawn on the wrong side, and lost a shoe when 5th in the SJP on the round course at Ascot.

Stable form leaves a bit to be desired but at 33/1 I'l have half a point each way.

Who's it gonna be? Palace Pier or Poetic Flare? My money is on Palace Pier (just).

I don't buy the excuse about the ground for Poetic Flare last time, but I suppose it's not impossible he could return to his SJP form. For me, however, he was starting to look a bit of a spent force last time, all over the place when asked for his effort.

Whereas with Palace Pier last time I think there was a valid excuse for him not looking quite as impressive as before, on account of the slow early pace. It was found that he had a blood disorder afterwards, so I guess it's possible that was the reason. Therefore it could be risky taking it for granted that he has fully recovered from that. Nevertheless, on form I reckon he should be more like 4/9 even with 6lbs he has to concede to the 3yos. So at around evens he's a bet.