Well we thought the going would test out a few of the runners.

And it did, throwing surprise results in nearly all the races.  Starting off with the Boussac where Andre Fabre had, as expected, scratched the favourite Raclette.  It was her stablemate Zellie who rose to the occasion and won defeating Times Square 33/1 and Oscula with Agarthe who had been prominent throughout doing well to stay on for 4th.

Then Angel Bleu 11/1 sprung the next surprise in the Lagadère giving Frankie Dettori another G1 and of course a flying dismount followed.  Godolphin's Noble Truth was only ¾ length behind for Appleby-Buick and Ancient Rome.  It seemed that the front runners had to use too much energy and the winners were coming from further back in the field.

This pattern continued in the Arc where probably the biggest surprise of the day came in the form of German raider Torquator Tasso who at 80/1 gave trainer Marcel Weiss and jockey Rene Piechuluk an incredible win.  Tarnawa was second and Hurricane Lane third in a very tight photo.  Love had been withdrawn earlier so that left Dettori without a ride.  It was not the year for the Japanese – Chrono Genesis was prominent for quite some time, having been taken wide for quite a while, but lacked the zip in the finish.  Deep Bond obviously hated it and finished at the wrong end of the field.  Adayer was pulling his head off early so Buick had to let him go to the lead but that used up too much petrol.  Sir Mark Prescott is probably opening a new box of cigars as his Alpenista finished ahead of Torquator Tasso in Germany in the G1 Preis von Berlin.  Torquator Tasso had then gone on and won the Grosser-Preis von Baden Baden G1, the same route taken by Danedream!

The Prix de l'Opéra went to Rougir 30/1 for Cedric Rossi and Maxim Guyon in a very tight photo with Grand Glory.  There was a stewards' inquiry after but the result stood.  Eudaimonia was third and Audarya fourth with Thundering Nights not disgraced in fifth.

Interesting that Tarnawa won this race last year.  Will it provide another Arc finalist next year?

The Abbaye was great excitement when our friend Air de Valse looked like she had won only to be pipped on the line by A Case of You.  How extraordinary that the first two home were ridden by jockeys called Ronan!  Third spot went to the very honest Glass Slippers. 

And then it was down to the Forêt and the only favourite to win on the day came in the form of Space Blues for Godolphin's Appleby-Buick, who won from Pearls Galore and another surprise the Japanese raider Entscheiden ran third – good placement Yahagi-Sensei!