A FIFTH British-trained pattern race victory of the nascent French season was registered when Sands Of Mali defied a 6lb penalty to land the six furlong Prix Sigy at Chantilly last Friday.

Trainer Richard Fahey reckoned that last season’s Gimcrack Stakes winner was going so well at home that it was worth travelling all the way from Yorkshire and that judgement proved accurate even though Sands Of Mali looked beaten on two separate occasions.