CONDITIONS were fairly quick at Maisons-Laffitte last Sunday, when Signora Cabello struck a blow for British raiders in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin.

With about a length covering all five runners, this cannot be regarded as top-notch form, though the winner’s 107 timefigure makes her joint-second-best juvenile filly in Europe at present.

There will doubtless be some good French-trained two-year-olds out soon, but at this stage the runner-up here, the colt Sexy Metro, is best of them on 109, which is not something to be feared.

Signora Cabello is tied with Natalie’s Joy, whose figure I edged down in a listed race at Newbury last Friday also worth a 107 timefigure. Natalie’s Joy is bred to get a mile in time, but, interestingly, her cadence here was high at between 2.44 and 2.50 strides per second until the final furlong: she could do with relaxing.

Marie’s Diamond recorded a time 0.57s slower than Intisaab had in the Tote Scurry Handicap the race before when winning a Group 3 contest at the Curragh last Saturday. But that comparison favours him after weights carried and age are taken into account, and he gets a 106 figure compared to Intisaab’s 104.

There were a handful of juvenile winners who impressed on the clock in the period under review, including Guaranteed (99) in the opener at the Curragh on Saturday and Good Fortune (98) who won by a remarkable 10 lengths at Lingfield.

Persian Moon ran a 95 timefigure, which gets boosted to 104 on sectionals, when an easy winner at Yarmouth on Wednesday, while Momkin comes out at 95 also for triumphing in a likely winner-producing novice at Newbury on Friday by a head from Beat Le Bon (95).

Iridessa did not run especially fast overall when winning a median auction race at Killarney on Tuesday (69 timefigure) but ran a good late split and should rate into the 90s before long.

The poor relative timefigure of the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury won by Ginger Nut (63) suggests that the majority of the form horses in this big field failed to run to their best.

SARATOGA

It was not a big week on the international racing stage, but Monomoy Girl was most authoritative in winning the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

Her overall time was only 0.19s quicker than a three-year-old maiden special weight winner on the same card, which points to a timefigure of only in the 90s. But Monomoy Girl’s splits are worth more like 117, and she could well go higher still.

It was a similar story for Sistercharlie, winner of the Grade 1 Diana Stakes on turf the day before at Saratoga, with her bare time something in the 90s but TimeformUS rating her the equal of Monomoy Girl based on sectionals.