Tamayuz defied a host of British raiders to win the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly for trainer Freddie Head and jockey Davy Bonilla.
Home challenger takes big Chantilly race against British raiders.
Tamayuz defied a host of British raiders to win the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly for trainer Freddie Head and jockey Davy Bonilla.
The three-year-old was sent to the front by Bonilla two furlongs from home and never looked back when holding off Raven's Pass and the fast finishing Rio De La Plata.
Only ninth in the French 200 Guineas at Longchamp, Tamayuz rubbished that run as a one-off when striding away with Sunday's big spoils.
It was a second Group One success for the trainer and jockey duo after landing the July Cup on Friday with Marchand D'Or.
"My horse was very impressive today," said the victorious trainer. "I knew he was a good horse, but the Guineas was a stupid race.
"We had a bad draw and had to wait and wait and it ended up being a bad sort of race.
Speed
"But he quickened well today and has lots of speed.
"There was nothing else for him after the Guineas and I didn't have a lot of choice so I kept him fresh to come here. I knew this race would suit him, but I was surprised when I saw the entries as it is usually much easier.
"We will have to talk to Sheikh Hamdan, but the Prix Jacques le Marois would be the obvious race for him.
"This is unbelievable, it has been a great few days. These are the sort of things you dream of but say will never happen."
John Gosden's Raven's Pass had a difficult draw to try to overcome but could just not find the extra yards to chellenge the winner better.
"He has run a blinder but the winner has ridden a good race - sat handy to the pace, stolen those lengths and we couldn't get him back," said Gosden.
"We have come from a long way back, which isn't ideal, but you don't normally have such a big field for this race. He probably got too far back and ran out of ground.
"If you are drawn on the outside you can't go round Chantilly five wide as you have an elbow and then a bend, so the plan was we were going to save ground.
"He'll likely go to the Sussex Stakes now and I can't imagine that will be such a big field. He'll be able to position himself a bit better there and we'll have a go at Henrythenavigator again."
Rio returns
Godolphin's Rio De La Plata was back running at a mile after not staying the extra half mile when seventh in the Derby at Epsom.
"He has run well and I was happy with the way he finished," Trainer Saeed bin Suroor said of Frankie Dettori's mount.
"He came from behind and was finishing strongly, so maybe he needs to go further and we will try and find a race for him over a mile and a quarter.
"The International at York would be one such race but we will keep options open."
