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A trappy card at Clairefontaine today is not made any easier by a track that’s now in really poor condition.

Race 3 is off in just over an hour and I like the shape of it from a betting perspective. It’s an average claimer but the top three in the betting have quite serious questions to answer.

5/2 Joli Coup ran down the field in Spain last time and has to give weight away all round. Chitose has a good chance too at 11/4 if bringing her best, but she is untested beyond a mile and connections may be being greedy by turning her out again two weeks after her most recent claiming success with a 2kg penalty.

The Iconist, a 4-1 chance, is sent here by respected German connections but he’ll need to rip the form book apart surely to win this, given his German rating is equivalent to just 31.5, the lowest of any published ratings in this race.

You don’t see many sons of Siyouni in claimers but First Ray is really disappointing and even with Barzalona on board, I haven’t seen enough in his recent form to back him at 11-1.

Arabia is 8-1 in a few places and this ex-Al Shaqab filly won a handicap off 31.5 and showed promise on her last start for current connections over C&D. She is holding her form better than most in here and looks confirmed at this trip. Her half-brother Sharar won over 12 furlongs last month and Maxime Guyon’s filly looks an each-way steal.

1.50pm Clairefontaine – 1pt each-way Arabia 8-1 (William Hill, Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook, Sporting Index, bet365, or 15/2 elsewhere)

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