Wild Illusion wins Prix De L’Opera Longines at Longchamp

The filly, winner of last year’s Prix Marcel Boussac, was in the perfect position under jockey William Buick and the pair pounced on long-time leader Rhododendron to take up the running in the final furlong.

Aidan O’Brien’s Magic Wand made a daring run up the rail but was unable to match the winner’s gears and had to settle for second a length adrift. Homerique under jockey Christophe Soumillon stayed on well for third place.

The win gave Godolphin a second victory on the day following Royal Marine in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

“She’s a great filly who is getting better,” said the winning jockey.

“She’s been on the go a long time but her races have been targeted carefully. It was a great training performance and she’s a filly we can look forward to.”

Appleby, who admitted to going into the race in bullish mood, said “All credit to the filly, she’s danced every dance and is so tough.

“We were confident we had the best filly, and everything was straightforward in the race. She looked fantastic and it was a deserved win.

“She was the only filly on the bridle turning in and I couldn’t see her getting beat because there’s one thing she won’t do, she won’t lie down and she’ll gallop all the way to the line over that trip.”

Victory earned Wild Illusion an automatic berth in next month’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Appleby has his sights on following up last year’s success with Wuheida, who was subsequently retired through injury.

The Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines was an even closer affair as the hugely consistent and popular filly, Mabs Cross, gives Michael Dods a third victory at the highest level under Gerald Mosse,

The winner took advantage of an electric pace set by race favourite Battaash and Soldier’s Call to fly down the outside late on and grab victory by a head. Mosse was calmness personified aboard his mount and in the end his second Abbaye success was a comfortable one if the winning margin suggests otherwise.

Gold Vibe ran well to finish second under Christian Demuro, while Archie Watson steered Soldier’s Call into third place, with Battaash having to settle for fourth.

Earlier in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Royal Marine edged a narrow victory over the Aidan O’Brien trained Broome, who almost swept away his rivals from the front.

Jockey Oisin Murphy was always in the perfect position on Royal Marine and took aim at the front-running Broome entering the final furlong, winning by a neck to give Murphy his eighth Group 1 of the year in the Godolphin blue. Race favourite Anodor was three-quarters of a length behind Broome in third

There was surprise in the Prix de la Foret as outsider One Master gave trainer William Haggas something to smile about after his earlier disappointment in The Arc.

Less than two hours after seeing Sea Of Class edged out by Enable in the day’s feature, Haggas was following One Master into the winner’s enclosure who was a worthy, if narrow, winner. Similar to Sea Of Class, her rider Pierre-Charles Boudot had to overcome a wide draw in stall 15 of 16, but having seen only two horses behind them early in the straight Boudot took his time before making his decisive effort on the four-year-old.

The race changed several times up the extended home straight, but One Master did enough to hold out from Inns Of Court, with Dutch Connection just a head away in third.