Aidan O'Brien's Order Of Australia had to settle for the runner-up spot in Sunday's Group 1 Prix Du Moulin as the odds-on Baaeed stretched his unbeaten record to five.
The William Haggas-trained winner took the step up to top-flight company in his stride at Longchamp but wasn’t as spectacular as his billing as a 4-11 favourite might have suggested.
Instead Order Of Australia put it up to his English rival and forced Baaeed’s jockey Jim Crowley to get serious in the closing stages before ultimately winning authoritatively. The sole French Victor Ludorum was third.
Baaeed was cut to 2-1 by some firms for next month’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot where he could have a mouth-watering clash with the season’s top older miler, Palace Pier.
“He’s in the QEII at Ascot and I suppose that’s the obvious target at the moment.
“Obviously if it went very heavy there, as it sometimes can do, then we’d probably think again. He’s not done much wrong this year and if he didn’t run again it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” said Muareen Haggas who represented her husband in Longchamp.
O’Brien is continuing preparations for one of the busiest Group 1 programmes of the year next weekend.
Irish Champions Weekend will see St Mark’s Basilica take on Tarnawa and Poetic Flare in the €1 million Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown while the unbeaten two-year-old Point Lonsdale is due to line up in the following day’s National Stakes at the Curragh.
Sir Lucan and Wordworth are among the Ballydoyle possibles for Saturday’s St Leger at Doncaster and Snowfall is set to get a pre-Arc glimpse of Longchamp in Sunday’s Prix Vermeille.
In other news Longchamp on Arc weekend is set to be the next port of call for the hugely popular mare Princess Zoe.
Trainer Tony Mullins is targeting a defence of her Prix Du Cadran crown after ruling out a run in this Friday’s Doncaster Cup.
“I don’t think she’ll be going to Doncaster. There’s no rain,” he reported on Sunday.
“She’s in good form. She’s going to Longchamp for the Prix du Cadran. It was a great day last year and she should get her ground there again,” Mullins added.
The German-bred grey was runner up to Twilight Payment in the Curragh’s Leger Trial last month. Prior to that she was best of the rest behind Subjectivist in the Ascot Gold Cup.
