Hollie Doyle bounced back from a shock defeat on Nashwa to ride her first winner at ParisLongchamp on Arc day.
John and Thady Gosden's filly was sent off the 2-1 favourite for the Prix de l'Opera, racing on testing ground for the first time.
The contest came at the end of a season in which Nashwa gave Doyle a huge career moment in France. She recorded her first Classic triumph in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly.
But Doyle had never ridden a winner at ParisLongchamp – and she might have thought it was not going to be her day when Nashwa was collared by a rank outsider. Place Du Carrousel (66-1) showed a smart gear change to land the first prize of just over £240,000 for connections.
Doyle was straight back in the weighing room to get ready for her next ride on another market leader in a Group 1.
The Platinum Queen (7-5f), trained in Britain like Nashwa, had strong form claims ahead of the Prix de l'Abbaye. This time Doyle's luck was in, as her mount bravely held White Lavender by a head. She was the first juvenile thoroughbred to take the top level sprint since 1978.
“I came here today with two favourites in Group 1s," Doyle said.
“Five years ago I would never have imagined this happening, so I’m very grateful.”
A trip to the Breeders Cup in America may be next for The Platinum Queen, according to Tim Palin, spokesman for the owners Middleham Park Racing.
The feature event, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, went to another British-trained horse, Sir Mark Prescott's Alpinista (7-2f). The popular grey mare galloped on strongly to hold Vadeni from the home team and Germany's Torquator Tasso.
Kinross (11-8f) also plundered the prize pot in the Qatar Prix de la Foret, for Newmarket's Ralph Beckett.
Only fourth 12 months ago, the mudlover kept up a good run of form with Frankie Dettori doing the steering. The jockey praised the exploits of Arc heroine Alpinista, after he gave chase on last year's hero Torquator Tasso.
“He (Kinross) was by far my best chance of the day," Dettori said.
"I really liked Torquator Tasso in the Arc but when the draw came out it made it tough. He ran a super race but it would have been very difficult to beat Alpinista today, she looked incredible.”
