Hurricane Lane heads field of nine for Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud

Last season's first two from the Irish Derby meet once more in what promises to be an informative Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on Sunday, with Curragh scorer Hurricane Lane favourite for the race in Paris.

Hurricane Lane and Lone Eagle served up a real treat at the Curragh 12 months ago, with Charlie Appleby’s Hurricane Lane managing to reel in Lone Eagle late on.

After that the Godolphin runner went on to win the Grand Prix de Paris and the St Leger, before finishing third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Surprisingly well beaten on his return at Royal Ascot in the Hardwicke Stakes, Appleby expects to see a different proposition this weekend.

"There’s a bit of rain forecast, so it looks like being on the slower side of good for sure. Any quicker and it might have raised concerns," he told the Godolphin website.

"I’ll be honest, I was pleased with his run post-race (at Ascot). Pre-race I was confident that we’d got his level of fitness up there, but turning four he’s done very well physically and he’s certainly tightened up for the run, that’s for sure.

"William (Buick) was happy with the way he travelled, he went through his girths and stayed on at the pace that we all saw.

"What we’ve seen since the race is a sharper, tighter model. Some might ask if 15 days is enough time between runs, but 15 days was always our plan – the Hardwicke and then the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and what we saw last year was he thrives on his races.

"He went English Derby, Irish Derby and then Grand Prix de Paris last year and that was probably his most impressive victory, so he thrives on his racing and we’re very happy."

Hurricane Lane reeled in Lone Eagle's lead in the final stretch to record a dramatic win in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Watch