Flotilla produced a record-breaking performance when getting up in the final strides to land the French 1000 Guineas at Longchamp.
Last season’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf winner came with a rattling run under Christophe Lemaire to collar the Andre Fabre-trained favourite Esoterique close home and oblige by a neck.
Trainer Mikel Delzangles’ decision to run Sage Melody as a pacemaker paid off as Flotilla set a record time for the mile showpiece.
The first two pulled four lengths clear of Tasaday in third, while Zurigha came from way off the pace to grab fourth for trainer Richard Hannon and jockey Richard Hughes.
The Ralph Beckett-trained Waterway Run was just behind the placed horses in sixth.
It was another boost for the Breeders’ Cup race, as Sky Lantern, who was eighth that day, won the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
“We had to make sure she had pace in the race because we wanted to make the race a properly run one. The pace was fast as they broke the course record for the race,” said Delzangles, who had faced a race against time to get his filly to the Classic.
“She needed time to come to herself after the winter.
“She has two options. We can try to go a bit further and run her in the Prix Diane or we stay at the same distance and go for the Coronation Stakes.
“We have plenty of time in which to decide that.”
The French 2000 Guineas went to Style Vendome, who was taking his winning run to five.
The Nicolas Clement-trained colt had won the Prix Djebel on his previous start and he continued his progress with a decisive, though narrow, triumph, and has the Prix du Jockey Club or St James’s Palace Stakes as potential options.
Style Vendome (9-2) responded to jockey Thierry Thulliez’s urgings to lead inside the final furlong and hang on by a neck from Dastarhon (50-1).
