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ALSHAKR SUPPLEMENTED FOR FRANCE

Ben Hanbury hopes that Alshakr can make the leap from maiden class to Group One company when she lines up for the Dubai Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) at Longchamp on Sunday.

The daughter of Bahri was supplemented today for the Classic at a cost of 100,000 francs (£9,600).

Alshakr won the Geoffrey Barling Maiden Stakes at Newmarket last month by a length and a quarter and the form has been franked since by third-placed Arabesque winning at Salisbury on Sunday and fourth Last Resort scoring at Chester on Wednesday.

She will bid to emulate Ta Rib, who won this race in 1996 having landed a Newmarket maiden on her previous start.

Hanbury said today: "Her form is working out well with the filly she beat winning easily at Chester yesterday.

"She's a smart filly and, though it is a big step up in class, nothing ventured, nothing gained - Ed Dunlop did the same thing with his filly four years ago."

Richard Hills takes the ride on the Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned three-year-old.

Saone Et Loire, owned by John Martin and trained by Richard Gibson, was also supplemented to act as pacemaker for leading French hope Lady Of Chad.

A total of 17 fillies stood their ground at today's forfeit stage, the four defections including the Barry Hills-trained Out Of Reach.

The Pascal Bary-trained Ocean of Wisdom was the sole withdrawal from the Dubai Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) on the same card.

Godolphin's Dubai Two Thousand has been taken out of the Prix Lupin along with Aidan O'Brien's Royal Kingdom and Bashkir.

The trio all hold entries in the Gartner Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield on Saturday.

Godolphin still have Vodafone Dreby hope River's Curtain in the Group One race.

The ground at Longchamp has eased further from soft (3.4 on the penetrometer) on Wednesday to bordering on very soft (3.9) this morning.

Michael Kinane has been booked to ride Lady of Chad on Sunday.

"I confirmed Michael (Kinane) for the filly this morning. He has not ridden for me before but I've seen him ride some terrific races around Longchamp," said owner John Martin.

"We were desperate to get Gerald (Mosse) as he knows her so well but he's been claimed by the Aga Khan. That's racing and there are no hard feelings.

"We've looked at the opposition and I'm not too sure about where the pace is coming from so Saone Et Loire will be there as a pacemaker just as she was when Lady of Chad won the Prix de la Grotte.

"Lady of Chad is in fantastic form and being a daughter of Last Tycoon we'd be pretty relaxed if the ground is faster than on her previous races.

"We are also pretty relaxed about the opposition that we know about but there are one or two unknowns that are more of a worry."

The unbeaten filly won last October's Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp and the Prix de la Grotte, also at Longchamp, on her reappearance last month.