THE two Group 1 races for two-year-olds at ParisLongchamp on Arc day were ever so slightly disappointing in the end. Not only were there significant defections before declaration (notably Anthony Van Dyck), both races were somewhat messy affairs.

Lily’s Candle ran the 1,600 metres of the Prix Marcel Boussac in a time 0.12s quicker than Royal Marine managed in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere 35 minutes later, though the latter carried 3lbs more.

Their respective timefigures come out at 105 and 106, on ground which had dried slightly (despite a minimal amount of rain late on Sunday morning) from “good to soft” to “good” on times.

However, Royal Marine was faster in the final 400 metres – 23.25s compared to Lily’s Candle’s 23.48s – and gets upgraded to 112, with Broome (who benefited from a slight positional advantage) on 110, Anodor (fastest of all late on) on 111 and Boitron on 107.

BEST FILLY

The sectionals for the Boussac suggest that the best filly probably won – Lily’s Candle gets a sectional rating of 108, Matematica 107 and Star Terms 106 – but none of these look strong classic contenders for next year. It appears I was mistaken in thinking that Dubai Beauty was a star in the making: she finished only seventh here, as she had at Doncaster.

The Kevin Ryan-trained East is potentially as good as anything which ran in that Boussac, as she showed by winning the Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud two days earlier, though that is not reflected in her overall time, which comes out at an unremarkable 98.

East, a daughter of Frankel, had been second-fastest of 211 timed lots at Goresbridge Breeze-Up in May and has certainly hit the ground running.

Things were quiet on the domestic front with two-year-olds in Ireland and Britain, with Turgenev running the best timefigure of 105 (107 on sectionals) in winning a novice at Newmarket in good style. Runner-up Il Paradiso (95 timefigure, 97 on sectionals) seems sure to win races also.

Both No Needs Never (Star Appeal Stakes at Dundalk) and Summer Daydream (Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar) won listed races, but neither recorded a good overall time, worth 86 and a mere 55 respectively.