Asfoora continued her glorious European tour with an authoritative success for Australia in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines – but only after a late dash from an Uber driver enabled her to line up in Paris.

Winner of the Nunthorpe at York in August, Henry Dwyer’s star mare was ridden by Oisin Murphy as the 9-4 favourite and after leaving the stalls quickly took up a handy spot on the inside in a field of 17.

From there she travelled well along the Longchamp turf, eventually accelerating to take up the lead in the final strides and claim victory from 80-1 shot Jawwal.

A mislaid horse passport had given connections of Asfoora a serious scare, as without it she could not have run.

Dwyer explained: “The roof of the mouth is a touch dry and we’re very happy that she got to the post. We had a couple of complications before the race as the silly Australians forgot to bring the horse’s passport.

“We got a man in an Uber to bring it from Chantilly, we put him on a retainer of a few hundred euros to get here for 2.30pm and he got it here by 2.33pm, so he can keep his retainer!

“I’m going to put something on Twitter (X) and try to track him down. I’ve got his name and I’ll put it on there with a big love heart and say if he can find us he’s more than truly welcome to join us in the celebrations tonight!

“I’ve driven back and forward from Chantilly to Longchamp four times in the last three days, it’s never taken me shorter than an hour and he did it in 52 minutes – he was on a good retainer, though!”

On the victory itself, Dwyer said: “It means a whole lot, obviously.

“We came over last year to England wanting to try new things. A lot of Australian horses come over for the English summer and run at Royal Ascot, but not too many continue and we fully intended to come to the Abbaye last year. We just felt she’d come to the end of it when she ran poorly at York.

“This year we held her back a little bit and wanted to get to Ireland and France. The ground didn’t go in our favour in Ireland and it didn’t completely today, but she was able to cope with it.

“I’m pretty sure she’s the first Australian-trained horse to win in France, so that was always a bucket list item, just to do things that haven’t been done before.

“I’m not a massive trainer who is going to win trainers’ titles and Melbourne Cups, so to try to do something different is what motivates us, I suppose.

“Today adds a new chapter. I think this is my sixth trip this year and it’s obviously not a hop, skip and a jump to get here, but at the end of the day when you’re lying on your death bed, you’re not going to think back about the things you didn’t do, it’s the things you did do and that’s what it’s about – experiences.”

Maranoa Charlie leads them a merry dance in Foret

Maranoa Charlie was much the best when striding to victory in the Qatar Prix de la Foret at ParisLongchamp.

Trained by Christopher Head for Yorkshire-based Bond Thoroughbred Limited, the 5-1 chance was ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre, who set his stall out early in the Group One, making the running from the off and never losing his spot at the head of the field as he prevailed over the 2-1 favourite Zarigana.

Charlie Bond said: “We’re so lucky, I’m lost for words really.

“He’s had three runs for us now and nearly won two Group Ones before today. He’s just an amazing horse, an amazing looking horse, we’re just so lucky.

“Christopher said he’d been working so well going into today’s race and he was back on home territory after travelling across to England for his last run. He said he was ready today and couldn’t see him getting beat.

“The jockey said he had more in the tank and knew where the line was.”

On a future career at stud, Bond added: “There were plenty of offers before today. I’ll have to turn the phone off and celebrate tonight and see what we wake up to in the morning.

“Christopher is in charge, so if he wants to race on next year then so be it.”

Head added: “He’s a horse that always went with the pace and we taught him to work like that. He’s now a more mature horse than he was at the beginning of the year and he is now absolutely able to go in front and long term he would be able to do the mile really well.

“It was extremely satisfying to see him win here today, especially accelerating in this manner.”

On a possible tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the trainer added: “He would be able to race in America since he can be so fast at the beginning of the race and we all know in America you need to have that aptitude to be able to be in the game.

“Definitely a mile race in America is not a problem for him, but the only question mark is the interest for him and his career as a stallion because we are looking to build a stallion for Mr Bond and helping him become more powerful in the industry in the long term.”

Barnavara hits high note with Opera success

Barnavara held off all challengers to claim the Prix de l’Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp for Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley.

The Calyx filly was one of several Irish hopes in the Group One, which attracted a field of 12 and for which she was an 8-1 shot.

She ran a prominent race throughout and while her rivals rallied in the final furlong and ate away at her lead, she remained resolute to score by a short neck from See The Fire. One Look was a further short head back in third, with less than a length separating the first six home.

“This was always my main ride today, I was looking forward to this filly,” said Foley.

“She’s improved all year, she’s a very good filly and she showed that today. She wears her heart on her sleeve and does it the hard way.

“She’s only really just filling into her frame, she was that size as a two-year-old. She’s a big girl and she’s really maturing now, learning how to relax and race.”

Of Harrington, who is one of the most successful dual-purpose trainers ever and who received the all-clear last year after a cancer diagnosis in 2022, Foley added: “She’s an unbelievable lady.

“When you think of what she’s been through in the past few years, she’s fought it all off and won. What a lady.

“I’ve been part of the team for a long time now and we’ve had some tough times but these good days make up for them.”