The Last Dance (Fr)

Staged in relentless driving rain, Sunday's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches offered a dramatic backdrop to the continued rise of Ballydoyle's brilliant Diamond Necklace who provided St Mark's Basilica with his first Classic. Sent off the 4-5 favourite returning to the ParisLongchamp track over which she had dominated the Prix Marcel Boussac in the autumn, the regally-bred TDN Rising Star tracked the early pace under cover before being sent down to the rail at the straight's cutaway. Surging to the front 300 metres from the finish, she was kept up...

Carlos and Yann Lerner trainee The Last Dance (Iffraaj) attained TDN Rising Star status with a stunning display at Chantilly last month and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane entry doubled up in style in Thursday's Prix du Louvre, a one-mile condtions heat, at ParisLongchamp. Held together in fifth before slipping one spot at halfway, the even-money favourite made smooth headway in the straight to seize control with 300 metres remaining and was pushed out in the closing stages to easily hold the late bid...

Tuesday's Prix de la Serpentine at Chantilly featured some choice pedigrees among the debutantes and it was the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane entry The Last Dance (Iffraaj) who stole the show in scintillating fashion to become a TDN Rising Star, Presented by Hagyard. "We have the right to dream with a filly like her, we can think about the great races in the spring," co-owner and co-breeder Antoine Gilibert told Paris Turf. "Even her jockey was impressed with the style of her win and the more...