Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Group 1)

THE O’Brien, Soumillon and the Coolmore Stud ownership group may have been forced to endure a gut-wrenching reverse in the Arc, but they had plenty to smile about at the beginning of the card as Diamond Necklace and Puerto Rico, representing star Coolmore stallions future and past in St Mark’s Basilica and Wootton Bassett, landed the day’s two juvenile Group 1s.

The Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac attracted a strong field of eight fillies and was won in very taking style without needing to be hit with the whip by Diamond Necklace to give St Mark’s Basilica his initial top-level victory.

She got the better of Christopher Head’s previously unbeaten dual Group scorer Green Spirit by a length.

“We thought that Diamond Necklace might still be a bit babyish for a race like this, but it was Christophe’s idea to bring her here,” O’Brien reacted. “She’s not short of speed and we’ll probably put her away now and give her a Guineas preparation.”

Soumillon said: “She’s amazing. I thought beforehand that she was my best ride of the weekend and she gave me a great feel. I had the perfect run and I didn’t need to ask her for too much, just hands and heels.”

Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Group 1)

SOUMILLON only needed to be slightly more forceful 35 minutes later aboard Puerto Rico, who made every yard of the running and had a comfortable two and a half lengths to spare over another Head protégé, Nighttime, in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

It was a 1-2 for the late-lamented Wootton Bassett and a 10th time that the Master of Ballydoyle has saddled the winner of this seven-furlong showpiece.

The step up to this trip has been the makings of Puerto Rico, who was beaten on all five of his starts over shorter prior to his all-the-way victory in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes on his previous start.

“We won this with Camille Pissarro last year, and he went on to land the Prix du Jockey Club despite doubts about his ability to last the mile and a quarter,” O’Brien said. “This horse is very similar, Christophe said that he was very quick and probably won’t get much further than the mile.

“He could be one for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. We asked Christophe if he would handle the faster ground out in America and he reckoned that it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp (Group 1)

WITHOUT demeaning Daryz’s Arc performance, the weekend’s best story was provided by Asfoora’s victory in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp. It centred around neither the horse, her trainer, her jockey (Oisin Murphy), nor even the fact that this was the first-ever Australian win on French soil, but instead on an unsuspecting Uber driver named Mamadou who saved the day.

The race itself lacked drama, in particular if you were one of Asfoora’s legion of supporters, as she got the job done with a minimum of fuss, able to take advantage of her favourable inside draw to track the leaders before pouncing upon the Czech-trained Jawwal with less than 100 yards to run and surging home to score by half a length.

All the drama had come in the couple of hours before the start when trainer Henry Dwyer realised to his horror that the passport which had been brought with Asfoora from her temporary base in Chantilly belonged to another horse.

French rules

The stewards tried their best to help, but the French rules state categorically that a horse will not be allowed to run without racecourse vets setting eyes on its physical passport.

A downcast Dwyer was forced to break the news to owner Akram El-Fahkri, who had jetted halfway across the world, that his filly would not be allowed to run.

Thankfully, by this time an Uber had been booked to ferry the correct paperwork from Chantilly with the promise of a €200 tip for the driver if he got it to Longchamp in time.

With a France Galop vet standing out on the road outside the track, it reached its destination 90 seconds before the deadline.

Dwyer has made a huge number of friends while plotting two European campaigns for his star sprinter, mainly because of his constant good humour and ability to come up with some great one-liners. His ‘the roof of the mouth was a touch dry’ response when asked after the race about the proximity to disaster, must be his best one yet!

Open manner

“I’m not a massive trainer who is going to win trainers’ titles and Melbourne Cups, so trying to do something different is what motivates me,” Dwyer went on to reveal, in his usual endearingly-open manner.

“This is my sixth trip over this year and it’s not just a hop, skip and a jump to get here. When you’re lying on your death bed, you’re not going to think back about the things you didn’t do, it’s what you did do that counts.”

The only speedster to carry off more than one Group 1 prize this season, following her earlier victory in the Nunthorpe Stakes, Asfoora must now be a leading candidate to be crowned Europe’s Champion Sprinter.

And she may not be finished yet. Her entry in the Tattersalls December Sales is likely to be rescinded as El-Fahkri has grown rather fond of his trips over from Melbourne and wants her to race on in a continent where, unlike at home, there are a number of opportunities for her over her favoured distance of five furlongs.

No report on the race would be complete without an honourable mention to the third home, Jack Davison’s brilliantly tough filly, She’s Quality, who went one place better than in the Flying Five and may have earned herself a tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

Prix de l’Opera Longines (Group 1)

SPEAKING of tough fillies, another to fit that bill is the Jessica Harrington-trained Barnavara who, thanks to a perfectly-judged front-running ride from Shane Foley and her stubborn refusal to be passed, came out on top in a blanket finish to the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera Longines.

The margin of victory was a short neck from Andrew Balding’s See The Fire with two more Irish raiders, the Paddy Twomey-trained One Look and Joseph O’Brien’s Wemighttakedelongway, just a short head and a short neck back in third and fourth.

“Barnavara had been fantastic, she’s continued to improve throughout the year, and today she’s taken it to another level,” Harrington enthused. “She was really brave, fending them all off.”

The December Sales could be where the daughter of Calyx ends up, though she may take up one of a trio of potential international assignments before then, either in Japan, Bahrain or America.

Qatar Prix de la Foret (Group 1)

THE last of the weekend’s eight Group 1 contests, the Qatar Prix de la Foret, saw Christopher Head gain compensation for his earlier near-misses in the two juvenile showpieces when Maranoa Charlie registered a one and a quarter length pillar-to-post victory.

As a son of Wootton Bassett, there has been plenty of interest about standing Maranoa Charlie at stud next year, but his Yorkshire-based owner, Charlie Bond, suggested afterwards that he could race on in 2026, while next month’s Breeders’ Cup Mile in Del Mar is also coming under consideration.

He beat the favourite Zarigana by a length and a quarter with Ten Bob Tony third and More Thunder making a fine effort from a wide stall in 16.