Lynam colt for France

The ground may yet stop the Newmarket-2,000 Guineas antepost favourite, Stravinsky, from running in Saturday's Prix de Salamandre…

The ground may yet stop the Newmarket-2,000 Guineas antepost favourite, Stravinsky, from running in Saturday's Prix de Salamandre at Longchamp, but one horse who will fly the Irish flag is Rolo Tomasi.

Trainer Eddie Lynam yesterday confirmed the unbeaten colt a runner in the Group One contest and Cash Asmussen will ride.

"Johnny Murtagh is committed to riding Ebadiyla at the Curragh, so we've booked Cash. Johnny reckons our colt will go on better ground but we know he handles the soft, whereas some of the others don't. "A lot of the them will be waiting on what Stravinsky does, but while we respect Aidan's horse, we're not frightened. We've always had this race in mind for our horse," Lynam said.

Aidan O'Brien was undecided yesterday as whether Stravinsky will travel to France or to Newbury for the Group Two Mill Reef Stakes.

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"Stravinsky would not like it too soft and a lot will depend on the weather between now and then," said O'Brien.

O'Brien has also left his Prix Morny winner Orpen in the Prix Salamandre, while the John Mulhern-trained Access All Areas also figures in the entries. The highly-touted Godolphin colt Aljabr is an intended runner, while John Gosden's Morny runner-up Exeat could also take part. Sporting Lad is a Paul Cole entry, but there are only three French juveniles left in the race.

The Group One-winning sprinter, Tamarisk, has been bought by Coolmore Stud and will retire there after running in the Breeders' Cup.

Roger Charlton trained Tamarisk to win the Sprint Cup earlier this month, but the colt will be prepared for the Breeders Cup by D Wayne Lukas in America.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column