Godolphin secure 1-2 finish in 1,600m race in France

Dubai - Flintshire finished second, as he was last year, with New Bay third and Treve fourth.

Qatari-owned mare Treve failed to make it a historic moment for the connections when compatriot and the derby hero Golden Horn (Frankie Dettori/ John Gosden) blocked her move to push her to a disappointing fourth in her third consecutive reappearance in the 94th running of the Qatar Prix de I'Arc de Triomphe (Group-1) at the Longchamp Racecourse in France on Sunday.
Flintshire finished second, as he was last year, with New Bay third and Treve fourth.
"I really believed in this horse and he put it to bed like a superstar," said Dettori after his fourth Arc win. "It was an amazing performance. I scratched my head all week about what to do, but I knew I was on the best horse so I wanted to make use of him and show the world just how good he really is. He's probably the best horse I've ridden," he added.
Dettori caught the eye in the early stages when taking Golden Horn very wide on the course, from a wide draw connections felt may beforehand may have been a hindrance.
"When you're drawn wide like we were," said Gosden, "we had to stay wide and run our own race before slotting in to the field. The plan was to do that to get him in a prominent position and it worked perfectly in the end. Frankie has given him a great ride - he rides this track quite beautifully," he went on.
Gosden, winning the ?5 million race for the first time, said: "It's great to win the Arc in France, just as it it great to win the Derby in England."
Early in the evening, It's Godolphin's blue colours which dominated the scene to secure a 1-2 finish across the line as the unbeaten Ultra trained by Andre Fabre, under Michael Barzalona fended off a late charge from Cymric, representing John Gosden's yard in the hands of William Buick to win the 1,600m Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Group 1), for two-year-old colts and fillies.
Bookmakers reckoned they had seen an Investec Derby prospect in the making with Paddy Power offering a first show of 20-1 for the winner, a son of Manduro who was described by Fabre beforehand as "the sort of horse everybody likes".
Trainer Fabre said: "He has got quite a bit of the talent of Manduro and he seems to have his attitude and heart. I expect him to get further next year so he could be a Classic horse. The Derby may well be the aim for next season."
Barzalona, a Derby winner for Fabre on Pour Moi in 2011, suggested Ultra was a pleasing work in progress. "He was a bit free early on but he settled down pretty quickly," the rider said. "He progressively wound it up in the straight and I'm very satisfied with what he has done today. I was just concentrating on where the winning line was and we were in the right place there where it counts."
Meanwhile, Ballydole gave Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore back-to-back wins in this race by producing a powerful and sustained effort in the home straight. Having teamed up with Found last year, Moore and O'Brien were in the winner's enclosure again as Ballydoyle defeated compatriot Turret Rocks. There was plenty of pre-race confidence behind both Ballydoyle and unbeaten French filly Antonoe and the pair shadowed each other throughout the race.
While Katie's Diamond made the running, Ballydoyle was kept penned in by Antonoe and her rider Vincent Cheminaud until the field swept into the home straight.