The jumps game may be JP McManus’s priority but the legendary owner is chasing a Group Two prize over six furlongs on the flat in Paris today when Hidden Oasis lines up in the Criterium De Maisons-Laffitte.
Winner of the Birdcatcher Nursery on his last start at Naas, and runner-up to Mekong River at Listowel prior to that, Hidden Oasis faces eight opponents in a race in which Viztoria finished second last year.
Hidden Oasis' trainer David Wachman knows what's required to be competitive having saddled Three Sea Captains to finish fourth in the race a year ago. His opposition this time includes the British trained No Leaf Clover and the Aga Khan-owned Kiram, winner of a Group Three at Chantilly last month. There will also be Irish interest in the two Group Three contests at Maisons-Laffitte this afternoon with Jim Bolger sending Caesaria for the Prix de Seine-Et-Oise over six furlongs.
Bolger also sends two-year- old filly Korba for the seven-furlong Prix Miesque. Her sole appearance to date came at the Curragh last month when finishing seventh to Ebanoran.
