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Penitent in French bid

Image: Penitent: First runner in France for O'Meara

Trainer David O'Meara's in-form Penitent is among a list of 10 entries for Sunday's Prix D'Ispahan at Longchamp.

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First French challenger for northern-based trainer

Penitent, Planteur and Colombian feature alongside Cirrus Des Aigles in a list of 10 entries for Sunday's Prix D'Ispahan at Longchamp. David O'Meara's Penitent has won a Listed race at Doncaster and stepped up on that when winning a Group Two at Sandown on heavy ground. Colombian, trained by John Gosden, raced frequently in France last season and began this campaign with a good win in the Gordon Richards Stakes. They will both have their work cut out against Corine Barande-Barbe's multiple Group One winner Cirrus Des Aigles, who recently landed the Prix Ganay. O'Meara is slightly worried about the trip for Penitent. "It's over nearly 10 furlongs and that would be a slight worry," said O'Meara. "He ran over it twice for William Haggas and you couldn't say he didn't stay on those runs. "We've beaten the same horse twice this season (Questioning) but the second time we did it easier and we had Dubawi Gold well back in third at Sandown and he wasn't beaten that far by Frankel in the Lockinge. I know the ground was completely different, though. "There's no opportunities over here for him so we'll give it a go. He'll be my first runner in France." Reliable Man, Tin Horse and Golden Lilac are also in the mix, although Carlton House and Nahrain were taken out.

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