Last Sunday at Deauville, French-trained horses won four of the principal races on the card, the Gr.3 Prix de Psyché and Prix Six Perfections, Listed Prix du Carrousel, and filled the Gr.1 Prix Rothschild podium. The Gr.3 Prix de Cabourg was the only black-type race to go the way of a foreign runner.

Since the start of 2023, nine of the eleven Gr.1 races run have been won by domestic horses, compared to just two for British raiders, the Irish empty-handed. All four spring classics fell to horses trained in France, with Blue Rose Cen, lifting both the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane (Traffic problems conspired against her, however, in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Thursday). Furthermore, all the 3yo Gr.1s run so far have been notched up to the home side, with just the Prix d’Ispahan and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud trophies heading abroad.

On top of that, local trainers appear particularly well-armed for the autumn and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, if we can judge this by Ace Impact’s remarkable Prix du Jockey-Club performance, and Feed The Flame’s in the Grand Prix de Paris.

It is also worth noting that ten of the dozen Gr.2s staged to date have been won by, yes, the French, Aidan O’Brien having scooped the other two, permitting the Irish to open their account, in stark contrast to the veritable routs of recent years.

Again, the French have dominated on the Gr.3 front, winning 21 of the 30 run. Irishman, based in the UK, Karl Burke has won four of the nine to have fallen into foreign hands.

If the first seven months are anything to go by, local optimism regarding the rest of the year may well be justified.