G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines

Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines had an open feel beforehand and there was a predictable bunch finish with Alpha Racing's Barnavara (Calyx) hanging on to clinch victory from See The Fire (Sea The Stars). Sent forward by Shane Foley to dictate, the Jessica Harrington-trained three-year-old who had been impressive in last month's Blandford kept digging in as threats emerged on either side to prevail by a short neck at 9-1. Less than a length covered the first five home, with One Look (Gleneagles) getting third, a short head behind...

Ten Years on from the G1 Prix de l'Opera victory of her half-sister We Are (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), George Strawbridge's Friendly Soul (GB) (Kingman {GB}--In Clover {GB}, by Inchinor {GB}) stepped up to emulate her feat in ParisLongchamp's Longines-sponsored contest on Sunday. Brought through the educative stepping stones of Ascot's G3 Valiant Stakes and Deauville's G2 Prix Alec Head by John and Thady Gosden, the 9-1 shot tracked the early leader in second travelling sweetly. Committed by Kieran Shoemark two out, the 3-year-old responded generously to assert her superiority and...

Yeguada Centurion's Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}--Queen Blossom {Ire}, by Jeremy) had failed to fire in two starts after notching a Classic double in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane, but was pitch-perfect in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp to secure for a fourth elite-level triumph in game fashion. Last term's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine was supported down to favouritism in the betting market and broke on the lead from the inside stall before accepting a tow in third in...

Al Shaqab Racing's Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}--Traffic Jam {Ire}, by Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), off the track since failing to land a blow in Chantilly's June 19 G1 Prix de Diane, exacted revenge on that Classic's winner, 'TDN Rising Star' Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), with a late rush to secure a career high in the flickering embers of Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp. The €260,000 Arqana August graduate had earlier annexed Saint-Cloud's Apr. 29 G3 Prix Cleopatre before taking second behind another 'TDN...

It is racing's greatest dichotomy. Labelled by the official ParisLongchamp website as "la meilleure course au monde", the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe will have few who brook any argument with that claim. Yet it is the time of year within which it is framed that delivers the ultimate snag, with autumn's entry prompting an often drastic change in terrain and a late turnpike for the kings and queens of summer just past. Half of the previous 10 renewals of France's great monument have been run on testing...