Following on from Gr.1 winners, Fado du Chêne and Eros du Chêne, trainer Julien Le Mer is set to saddle Idéale du Chêne, another exceptional horse, in Sunday’s prestigious Prix de Cornulier.

Winner of the Gr.3 Prix Holly du Locton at three, Le Mer’s mare, now six, is still considered to be among the elite of the monté code. She went on to win a brace of Gr.1s, the 2021 Prix de Vincennes, and 2022 Prix Jag De Bellouet. Denied victory by Ina Du Rib in last month’s Cornulier qualifier, the Prix Bilibili, she subsequently broke into a gallop in the Gr.2 Prix du Calvados a fortnight ago. That notwithstanding, Le Mer expects a big run from her at the weekend, with habitual jockey, Paul Ploquin, in the irons.

“She went straight into a gallop in the Prix du Calvados, but still worked well after that, a few lengths off the pace. She is quite the character. It was a race she could have won and had been sharpened up for it. She has had a busy week of work; you cannot come into a race like the Cornulier with a horse that hasn’t been honed to perfection.

“Personally, I’m quite relaxed leading up to the race, but I will be anxious 30 seconds from the off as she deals with the commotion of getting under starter’s orders. She can be quite temperamental on these occasions. The Prix de Cornulier is the pinnacle for us. I have mainly young horses in training, with few older ones, which makes this a rather special affair. We’ve had some disappointments in the Cornulier, but we still keep on dreaming, without however being too fanciful. I still think that we have a realistic chance of finishing in the first four.”