THE weekend just gone featured a handful of major foreign races which may have a bearing on events closer to home later in the campaign.

These included, at Deauville, the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg, in which Comedy beat Kodyanna in a one-two for British trainers, and the Group 1 Prix Rothschild, in which the Prix de Diane fifth With You came three lengths and more clear of her rivals.

Both fillies raced up with the pace, with Comedy making all, but the pace profiles of the two contests were very different. Comedy went fast and ended up running her rivals ragged, recording 24.65s for the last 400 metres, or a finishing speed of just 95.8%.

Her base 97 timefigure gets boosted to 108 – second-best among juvenile fillies behind Pretty Pollyanna (116) – on account of that.

With You sat just behind a steadier pace (final 600 metres of 35.17s, or 102.9% finishing speed) and struck in good time to ensure her positional advantage counted.

I cannot rate her effort higher than 115 (even that may be too high) and behind her Rosa Imperial, whose stamina was taxed, and Aljazzi should have finished closer.

Good Magic is the best active three-year-old colt in the US following the unfortunate retirement of the injured Triple Crown winner Justify, and he delivered as expected in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park last Saturday.

In overall time terms, it was a solid rather than spectacular effort, worth a figure of something like 117 (six quicker than the Monmouth Cup winner Name Changer after weight carried and weight-for-age is taken into account). But Good Magic looks as professional in what he does as his former rival, if slightly less talented.

A penalised Unique Bella bagged another good win in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar, setting quick fractions and not hard ridden as La Force stayed on strongly to run her to half a length. I make this worth around 122 on the winner, with plenty apparently in the locker.