BASTILLE Day in France meant that we got to see some top-class racing action on a Friday evening for a change, with the Juddmonte-sponsored Grand Prix de Paris the centrepiece at Saint-Cloud.

Fortunately, it was one of four races at 2,400 metres on the card, making for robust comparisons of overall times, with this contest fastest of the quartet by some way and, more importantly, fairly fast for the calibre of horses involved.