G2 Prix Hocquart

He had to fight to extend his winning sequence on his black-type bow on Thursday, but Al Asayl France's L'Astronome (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Tymora, by Giant's Causeway) proved equal to the task when eking out a narrow verdict over Galaxie Gold (Fr) (Dariyan {Fr}) in a thriller for ParisLongchamp's G2 Prix Hocquart. Sent off the 7-10 favourite for the 11-furlong test, having shown abundant promise so far and having scored over slightly shorter at this track last time Apr. 28, the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained chestnut was unable to get a lead from...

There is something for everyone on a frantic Thursday afternoon and evening across Europe, with five pattern races at Baden-Baden, ParisLongchamp and Sandown and four of them condensed within less than two hours. Perhaps the most crucial comes at the latter venue, where the G3 Coral Brigadier Gerard S. sees a pair of colts with big potential in Shadwell's Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) measured against Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's solid veteran yardstsick Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}). Bay Bridge...