Can Moss Vale win? The swansong...

[my miss storm cat]

Mossie got his picture in Racing post.

Good luck, good boy.

Nicholls hopes to run three in Prix de l'Abbaye

by Thomas Deane

NORTH Yorkshire handlerDavid Nicholls hopes to be three-handed in the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp on Sunday.

Often associated with winning big sprint races, Nicholls is likely to saddle Strike Up The Band, Peace Offering and Moss Vale in the Group 1 dash he landed with Continent in 2002.

The first two are also entered in the Abergwaun Stakes at Tipperary on the same afternoon, but the prospect of quickish ground in Ireland means a trip to Paris is currently the favoured option.

"We've got entries at Tipperary and then we've got some in the Abbaye on Sunday as well as a race at Chantilly on Monday," Nicholls said.

"The ground at the moment in Tipperary is good to firm, so that would curtail going there, and we'll head with Moss Vale, Strike Up The Band and Peace Offering to the Abbaye - providing they all get in.

"The ground over there is soft, so they'll appreciate that," he told At The Races.

"It'll be a busy weekend and we'll probably be in France again on Monday."