Irish trainer Jim Bolger made light of the absence of rival Aidan O'Brien's champion Duke of Marmalade to win the Irish Champion Stakes on Sunday with his Epsom Derby hero New Approach.
Indeed it was Bolger's day all round as he also saw his star filly Lush Lashes triumph in the other Group One race at Leopardstown - a meeting which had been held over from Saturday because of torrential rain on Friday that had made racing impossible - the Matron Stakes to record her third Group One win of the season.
Both winners were ridden by his son-in-law Kevin Manning with New Approach - who had been third behind Duke of Marmalade in late August after a lay-off because of injury - prevailing at 8-13 on favourite by 1/2 a length over 50/1 surprise Traffic Guard while 8/1 shot More's Well justified trainer Kevin Prendergast's decision to give the race a shot finishing third.
New Approach's next challenge will probably come in the Arc de Triomphe on October 5 at Longchamp racecourse but bookies William Hill weren't that impressed and pushed him out to 10/1 from 8/1.
O'Brien's afternoon hadn't begun well as he had to withdraw Duke of Marmalade because the state of the ground hadn't improved enough for him to take a risk in seeing whether his star could record a sixth successive Group One success - and it was to get worse.
Henrythenavigator had won four Group Ones on the trot but that came firmly to a halt at Longchamp in the Prix Moulin where the winner of both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas never really got into the action and finished fifth while France's English 1000 Guineas winner Natagora was sixth.
"We know that Henry loves fast ground," said O'Brien, who has 18 Group One winners to his name this season and is seeking to break the world record of 26.
"He has run a good race but the top was coming off the ground and Johnny (Murtagh his rider) said he laboured a little."
Instead, the finish was fought out by two fillies Goldikova, trained by former top jockey Freddie Head, and Darjina, last year's winner.
It was Goldikova under Olivier Peslier that prevailed to collect her second successive Group One after landing the Prix Rothschild at Deauville last month, one of three Group One winners for Head during the month long festival.
"She is the best in Europe over a mile," purred Head, who said she would definitely go for the Breeders Cup Mile later in the year in the United States.
"She is extraordinary. She is so courageous. Its a great day for me and the team. She never let up and only great horses perform like that."
Darjina, ridden by Gerard Mosse for trainer Alain de Royer Dupre, filled second for the fifth successive race while English raider Paco Boy was third ridden by Richard Hughes for trainer Richard Hannon.
Hughes's decision to leave immediately after his child's christening in England to make the meeting was justified earlier when he had won the two-year-old Group III race the Prix la Rochette as he guided Hannon's Soul City to victory - just as well as Hannon is his father-in-law and was a bit surprised he was trying to do both things in the same day.
The Group One Grosser Preis Baden Baden, Germany's top weight for age race went ahead despite dreadful weather and ground. The top prize went to this year's German Derby winner Kamsin, ridden by the suitably named Johan Victoire, who overcame the slight favourite Adlerflug, last year's German Derby winner and rated the best horse in Germany.
Both could well could oppose New Approach come October 5 when hopefully the ground a lot better suited to the majority of the runners to make it a cracking contest.
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