There will be a tantalising clash between Poetic Flare and Palace Pier this Sunday, with the pair set to collide in the Prix Jacques le Marois.

Jim Bolger’s Poetic Flare, already victorious in the English 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes in a busy season thus far, came unstuck when second in the Sussex Stakes, but the Coolcullen supremo is expecting him to bounce back to his best in the Deauville Group One.

“It was the ground that beat us that day,” Bolger said of his run at Goodwood. “He goes to Deauville on Sunday. The ground did not look that bad at Deauville last Sunday in the Prix Maurice de Gheest. I don’t know what is running, but we are.”

Palace Pier was forced to bypass their much-hyped duel at Goodwood after the Kingman colt was given time to recover from a blood disorder, but the mouth-watering meeting is now rescheduled as John and Thady Gosden’s miler targets back-to-back successes in the French feature.

The impressive four-year-old is unbeaten in three starts this season, having landed the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot when last seen in June, and connections report him to be in flying form ahead of this weekend.

“He seems to have come back to himself and Frankie (Dettori) was very happy with him when he worked him last Saturday. He’s on course for France rather than York (Juddmonte International), but it looks a competitive race with the likes of Poetic Flare in there,” Thady Gosden said.

Meanwhile, Aidan O’Brien will bid to make it four victories in five years when he sends Sweet Molly Malone and Woodland Garden in search of success in the Listed Hurry Harriet Stakes (5.35) at Gowran Park this afternoon.

Woodland Garden looks like the Ballydoyle No 1 in the hands of Seamie Heffernan, but faith is kept in Dermot Weld’s Emaniya despite her Galway flop, and the Sea The Stars filly can atone under Oisín Orr.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​