Moulin, Sprint Cup, Topkapi Trophy on tap

One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) victress NATAGORA (Divine Light) remains on

course to meet Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) hero HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (Kingmambo)

in Sunday's Prix du Moulin (Fr-G1) at Longchamp, according to Patrick Barbe, the

racing manager for Natagora's owner Stefan Friborg.

"We have left her in the Moulin and she is a possibility to run, as long as

the ground is not too soft," Barbe said. "She is in very good condition and

Christophe Lemaire should ride."

The gray sophomore was a last-out second to Tamayuz (Nayef) in the August 17

Prix Jacques le Marois (Fr-G1) at Deauville where she was ridden by Yutaka Take.

Henrythenavigator, a four-time Group 1 winner this term, charts a similar

course into the one-mile contest as that of trainer Aidan O'Brien's only

previous winner Rock of Gibraltar (Ire). The Ballydoyle conditioner is also

hoping for sufficiently drying conditions to allow his star charge to run. There

is a forfeit stage for the €400,000 contest

Wednesday, which will erode the current list of 26 entries, followed by a

€24,000 supplementary stage Thursday.

Meanwhile, AFRICAN ROSE (Observatory), runner-up to Marchand d'Or (Marchand

de Sable) in the August 10 Prix Maurice de Gheest (Fr-G1) at Deauville, remains

on target for this Saturday's Sprint Cup (Eng-G1) at Haydock, having been added

to the six-furlong feature at a cost of £17,500.

"It's a big step up, but we are going to try our best," trainer Criquette

Head-Maarek commented. "She's got a lot of speed and, the more speed there is in

the race, the better it will suit her. I thought for a while we were going to

beat Marchand d'Or (last time), but he was just too strong for us. She won't

mind soft ground, and I don't think that will be an excuse. The only excuse she

could have is if she gets beat by better horses.

"England is always a difficult place to go to try and win, but she's got a

lot of speed; she can follow any pace, so we're going to try. She will leave

(Chantilly) on Thursday, and Stephane Pasquier will ride."

Elsewhere, PRESSING (Ire) (Soviet Star) will bid to improve on his second in

last year's Bosphorus Cup when contesting the $1.02-million Topkapi Trophy at

Veliefendi's International meeting in Turkey on Sunday. The Michael Jarvis

trainee finished a last-out second to LINNGARI (Indian Ridge) in the Grosser

Dallmayr-Preis (Ger-G1) at Munich July 27, and the Newmarket conditioner is

hopeful the five-year-old can reverse that form in the upcoming one-mile event.

"Pressing is in great form and is dropping to a mile at the weekend, which

should be fine," Jarvis told PA Sport. "It looks a hot race with Linngari in

there again, but I hope we can at least get closer to him than last time over

this trip. William Haggas runs his Royal Ascot winner COLLECTION (Peintre

Celebre) and Roger Charlton has FIFTEEN LOVE (Point Given) entered, so there are

plenty of us going over there. It is good prize-money and our horse is well, so

we will give it a go and see how we do."

Last year's champion SABIRLI (Strike the Gold) leads the home defense.