OLYMPIC Glory (42) came close to the course record when winning the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp’s Arc meeting. He came with his usual late charge to get up late and win going away by two lengths.

The win means that he’s now won six of the seven times that he’s run less than a mile, with his sole loss being a three-quarter length second to multiple Group 1 winner Dawn Approach at two. The race was set up for Olympic Glory by the phenomenal early pace shown by Spanish champion Noozhoh Canarias (40). He took the field along in a blistering 53.94 seconds for the first five furlongs.

This compares with the 55.73 seconds they ran for the first five furlongs in the next fastest race over the distance in the last dozen years other than Dalghar’s course record setting performance.

With three furlongs left Noozhoh Canarias was three lengths clear and going strongly. He tired a furlong out but was still half a length ahead with just half a furlong left to run and then got caught to finish third by two lengths.

Noozhoh Canarias has yet to win a Group 1. I reckon the best chance for him to do that would be if his connections paid the admittedly steep supplementary entry fee to run him in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

EXPERIENCE

The Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint is run this year at Santa Anita on a very similar track to the 1400 metre course at Longchamp in that much of the early part of the race is downhill. The difference is that it’s half a furlong shorter. Normally horses that have experience of Santa Anita’s unique downhill turf course have a big edge in the race. This smart run suggests Noozhoh Canarias would be very well suited by the course too.

The runner-up Gordon Lord Byron (40) closed on Noozhoh Canarias up the straight and got level with half a furlong to be run. Then the winner blasted by quickly on his outside to leave him trailing by two lengths.

Gordon Lord Byron won the Foret on heavy ground back in 2012. He took a seven and a half furlong Group 1 in Australia on soft ground earlier this year.

He’s not quite as good on faster ground because horses like the winner can do him for a turn of foot.

Fourth-placed Vorda (40) doesn’t seem to be very effective over a mile or on soft ground. If one photo-finish to the Pouliches third had gone her way she would have won the five previous times she’d run seven furlongs or less on good or faster ground.