Prix Exbury bid by Soleil Marin

Soleil Marin tries to provide Andre Fabre and Mickael Barzalona with a second straight success in the first European turf Pattern race of the year, the G3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud, France, on Saturday, 17 March.

The trainer and jockey won the 10-furlong turf contest 12 months ago with Cloth Of Stars, who went on to capture the G2 Prix d’Harcourt and the G1 Prix Ganay, as well as finishing an excellent second to Enable in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Soleil Marin enjoyed a fine start to his season last year.

He followed up victory in an extended 10-furlong Listed race on soft ground at Saint-Cloud on his seasonal return in March with a game success over the same trip in the G3 Prix Noailles at Chantilly in April.

The four-year-old colt, a seven-length winner on heavy going at Saint-Cloud in 2016, makes his first appearance since finishing last of four in the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris over a mile and a half at Chantilly on 15 October.

He takes on six rivals in the Prix Exbury including the 2017 G2 Prix Dollar victor Garlingari, last year’s G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains fourth Spotify and multiple G3 scorer Air Pilot.

Lisa-Jane Graffard of Godolphin commented: “Soleil Marin has done very well over the winter and goes into this race in good order.

“We know that he handles soft ground and this race will help us to plan his programme over the coming months.

“He is coming up against some strong opposition, but we are hopeful of a good run.”