So he surely must be thinking of the big American race for Charm Spirit (35-pace adjusted 39) following his win in the Prix Jean Prat. The three-year-old is qualified to run in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and showed at Chantilly that he has exactly the kind of running style needed to win it.

Held up in a moderately run race, Charm Spirit accelerated smartly and nipped through the gaps quickly in the closing stages to win by a very long looking neck.

With some doubts about his stamina for the mile, Charm Spirit was held up to get the trip. This change of tactics seemed beneficial as he matched his big run in the seven-furlong Prix Djebel on my ratings and bested his two previous runs at a mile.

Freddy Head said after the race that he felt he erred in sending Charm Sprit across the Channel for the Guineas at Newmarket. Most likely he’s right. This run would have been good enough to win the French equivalent, the Poulains, if he’d stayed at home.

My thinking now is that Charm Spirit will no longer have any problems getting the mile if he continues to be held up and is kept to races around a turn.

Runner-up Yuften (35-pace adjusted 39) was gifted a soft lead and accelerated three furlongs out. His jockey got over-competitive and used his whip left-handed to shift his mount across to shut out La Hoguette as she tried to move through on his inside in the closing stages. In doing so he left a big gap for the winner to zip through down his outside. He was rightly disqualified but the run did show he’s as good as his close fifth to Kingman at Royal Ascot suggests.

I’ve noted before that Yuften is bred to go longer. Indeed his three siblings were all middle-distance runners or stayers, as were seven of his unraced dam’s nine siblings. However, he’s a very athletic, medium-sized, racy sort who showed serious pace to quicken things up from the front. So I am now thinking maybe a mile is his best distance.

Third-placed Shifting Power (34-pace adjusted 38) is a big, one-paced boat of a horse whose chance was greatly helped by the very soft ground. He was still made to look rather one-paced by the winner though. He’s such a strong, rangy sort I can see why trainer Richard Hannon is talking about stepping him up to 10 furlongs.

If Shifting Power was ever going to win a Group 1 over a mile it would have been in this race or his last run which were both run on really slow ground. With the ground likely to firm up it makes sense to give him a shot over longer. Most likely there’s less than a 50% chance he’ll stay but if he does then the longer distance would counteract his lack of acceleration and give him at least a shot of cracking it in a top level race.

Fourth-placed La Hoguette (34-pace adjusted 38) moved well and looked set to move alongside Yuften when that one cut across her with a furlong left. She had to be taken up pretty sharply and lost ground and momentum as a result. She began to get rolling again in the last 50 yards but it was far too late.

I’d awarded La Hoguette a one point higher rating for her second to the top class Fintry last time. I’m pretty sure she would still have been beaten by the winner and perhaps Yuften here but for the incident as she was taking quite a while to get rolling. I have little doubt she’d stay 10 furlongs but she’s clearly smart over a mile. With Fintry on her summer holidays, it makes sense to take up La Hoguette’s entry in the Prix Rothschild over a mile at Deauville next month.