Kieren Fallon bounced back from the disappointment of missing Royal Ascot when securing his first Group One triumph of the year on board Mountain High in yesterday's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in France.
The controversial former champion jockey rode the Michael Stoute-trained winner to beat the heavy favourite Mandesha with Prince Flori back in third. It was a second win in the mile and a half race for the Stoute-Fallon team who also scored with Gamut in 2003.
Fallon only returned to action earlier this month following a six month worldwide drugs ban after testing positive for cocaine at Chantilly last July. However, he enjoyed a happier return to Paris yesterday on his first Group One assignment of the year.
Mountain High took charge of the race more than two furlongs out and earned a 16 to 1 quote from William Hill for October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He is Fallon's first top-flight winner since Holy Roman Emperor landed the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere at Longchamp last October.
Coolmore's number one jockey is still suspended from riding in Britain and faces corruption charges at the London High Court in a trial which is due to begin in late September.
The July Cup could be the next target for Saturday's Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Soldier's Tale after Johnny Murtagh upset Australian hopes of adding the final day Royal Ascot feature to Miss Andretti's Kings Stand Stakes on Tuesday.
Miss Andretti could beat only six of her 20 opponents in her attempt to double up and it was her compatriot Takeover Target who looked a likely winner until Murtagh pounced in the closing stages on Jeremy Noseda's injury -plagued sprinter.
The Irish jockey was the Aussie hero four years ago when Choisir brought off the Kings Stand-Golden Jubilee double but soft ground put paid to the raiders this time and allowed Soldier's Tale his finest hour.
"The ground will dictate his programme but we will consider the obvious targets such as the July Cup, the sprint at Haydock and the Prix de la Foret," said Noseda yesterday.
"But he does need soft ground to be competitive at this level and the downpour before the race helped."
It brought Murtagh's tally for the royal meeting to three winners, the same total as Michael Kinane, but both visiting jockeys were behind Wexford-born Jimmy Fortune who was leading rider at Royal Ascot 2007 with five winners.
Fortune draw a blank on Saturday but so did Kinane who could only finish runner-up on the odds on favourite Scorpion in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes.
Aidan O'Brien's triple Group One winner came up half a length short of Marahaal, a sole winner of the week for Michael Stoute, who repeated his success of last year in the mile and a half event.
Dermot Weld has announced that last year's Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime is in foal to Holy Roman Emperor and has been retired from racing. The filly, owned and bred by Weld's mother, Marguerite, was a wide margin winner of the Curragh classic but then injured herself at Royal Ascot.
"We ran her in the Coronation Stakes afterwards and she pulled a muscle quite badly and I never really got her quite right," the Curragh trainer said yesterday.
"We decided to breed her to Holy Roman Emperor and I'm delighted to say she is safely in foal. Let's hope she stays in foal and the future will take care of itself. She was an extremely talented filly and it was just unfortunate she had a recurrent muscle problem," Weld added.
On the jumps front, Denis O'Regan has agreed a three-year deal to ride for the North of England trainer Howard Johnson and the leading owner Graham Wylie. The Cork-born rider takes over Paddy Brennan who spent one year as Wylie's retained rider after replacing Graham Lee.
"I'll be going over there shortly after Galway. I'm looking forward to the move. It's a big challenge. I've signed a three-year contract," O'Regan said.
Tonight's jumps card at Kilbeggan features a possible classic starter in the three mile novice hurdle where Ehsan can secure the second jumps victory of his career.
The son of the classic winners Sinndar and Ebadiyla, formerly trained by John Oxx, is now with James McAuley who has a possible tilt at the Irish Leger in mind for his regally-bred recruit.
Ehsan followed a Tramore victory with a third to Khadiskar at Fairyhouse and although he has to concede weight to his rivals today, the three mile trip should suit.
