THERE were four Group 1 races run in Europe this weekend a decade ago. The €300,000 Moyglare Stud Stakes was the feature at the Curragh, Haydock staged the £140,000 to the winner William Hill Sprint Cup over six furlongs, in France nine went to post for the Prix du Moulin over a mile, with a winner’s purse of €170,000, while Germany staged the €450,000 Grosser Preis von Baden.

Sue Magnier’s Danehill filly Rumplestiltskin was the odds-on favourite to win the Moyglare and she did, but only just. Not having things all her own way, she scrambled home from Ugo Fire.

The Ballydoyle filly then went to France and rounded off her juvenile career with a victory in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac. She made a single start at three, finishing down the field in the 1000 Guineas won by Speciosa and was retired to stud.

In the breeding shed she has made a superb start and her first four foals, all by Galileo, have won. The most recent winners are the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks heroine Tapestry, and last year’s leading juvenile John F Kennedy. She also has a two-year-old colt, named San Francisco, and a filly foal, both by Galileo.

In England there was a minor upset when Proclamation finished down the field in the William Hill Sprint, victory instead going to the David Loder-trained Goodricke with Jamie Spencer in the saddle. This victory earned the three-year-old the honour of being named the champion sprinter in Europe for his age group. His year older full-brother Pastoral Pursuits, both being sons of Bahamian Bounty, finished 2005 as the best older sprinter in England when he won the Group 1 July Cup.

Pastoral Pursuits stands at the National Stud in Newmarket and has sired plenty of stakes performers. Goodricke on the other hand stood for a single season in England, a couple of seasons in Italy and then moved to Germany.

In France there was a truly international result when the Soviet star-sired Starcraft, trained by Luca Cumani, beat a field that included Whipper and Cacique, to add to previous Group 1 successes in Australia and his native New Zealand.

He was later to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Newmarket. His victory in the Australian Derby earned him the title of champion three-year-old. At stud in the southern hemisphere Starcraft has sired the champion Star Witness, the best of his generation at two and three years.

Finally, in Germany the Clive Brittain runner Warrsan landed his second Grosser Preis von Baden. Both these victories saw him crowned the champion older horse of the year there. The son of Caerleon also captured the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom twice and his nine career wins netted his owner Saeed Manana more than £1.6 million. He was one of four group winners out of his dam Lucayan Princess; the others included the Italian Derby winner and later sire, Luso.