G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines
Unable to take part in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines moments before the off due to a misplaced passport, Asfoora (Flying Artie) followed all that pre-race drama with a welcome straightforward display to make history. Overpowering the outsider Jawwal (Wooded) inside the final furlong, the 5-2 favourite asserted her superiority under Oisin Murphy to record a half-length success, the first of any kind for her nation in France. The Abbaye is also a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint next month. "It's surreal--we...
Capping her career in style, Brightwalton Bloodstock's Makarova (GB) (Acclamation {GB}--Vesnina {GB}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}) signed off with a gallant success in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines. Having shown how much she relishes a slow surface when taking the G3 Sandown Sprint Stakes in July, the Ed Walker-trained 5-year-old from an esteemed Cheveley Park family had put up an ideal prep when third behind Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in last month's G1 Flying Five at The Curragh but still traded at an inflated and overly-generous...
There were some who were preparing to write off John Fairley's mare of steel Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}--Pure Illusion {Ire}, by Danehill) following her uncharacteristically disappointing effort in the G1 Flying Five at The Curragh last month, but the 6-year-old answered the doubters by simply placing another of the world's big sprints onto her impressive resume as she conquered Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines. While she may not quite be the same supercharged dragster who went through an unprecedented treble at this level...
There had been no 5-year-old mare to win the Arc until just after 4 o'clock on Sunday and no juvenile to prevail in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines since 1978, but both droughts are now officially at an end after Middleham Park Racing's The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) made it happen in the ParisLongchamp sprint. Atoning for a heartbreaking defeat on her beloved Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the preceding G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines, Hollie Doyle made full use of Richard Fahey's dynamo's relentless...
Fast-becoming renowned for his lethal finishing kick, Gary Devlin's A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) had just missed out in the G1 Flying Five but the line was there in time for him in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines, a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November. Having only his second start at this five-furlong trip, the 3-year-old who was supplemented following his Curragh flourish on Irish Champions Weekend needed every centimetre of it to break...