Zarak filly second by a short neck in Prix de Diane. Zarak came within a short neck of a first crop Classic success in the Gr.1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly on Sunday, as his daughter La Parisienne narrowly lost out to the more experienced Nashwa.

The filly’s connections were in celebratory spirits after such an exciting finish. “I am overjoyed, overwhelmed!’ exclaimed one of her breeders Pierre Talvard of Haras du Cadran, where La Parisienne was born and raised. “It is no surprise to see her finishing second, I believed in her. The rain this morning definitely helped. Gérald [Mossé] gave her a very nice ride, it was perfect. We were beaten by a very good filly.

“La Parisienne has an exceptional physique My friend, Carlos [Lerner, trainer] noticed her when she was a yearling.”

La Parisienne is trained by Carlos Lerner and son Yann for a partnership that includes the American Peter Bradley, who bought a majority share in the filly in March. She is her sire’s second Classic-placed horse from his first crop of three-year-olds. Zarak also sired the winner of the Swiss Derby, Hello Hola Hay, on Sunday at Frauenfeld.

On the same Chantilly card, Erevann, a son of Dubawi and Siyouni’s Classic-winning daughter Ervedya, maintained his unbeaten record when battling hard to defeat Poule d’Essai des Poulains third Tribalist in the Gr.3 Prix Paul de Moussac.

“He’s a very nice horse and we have always thought a lot of him,” commented trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. “We had a doubt about him being able to handle good or fast ground and it’s nice to see him win on such a surface today. I am really delighted and next stop could be the Gr.1 Prix Jacques Le Marois in Deauville.”

Meanwhile in the USA, Siyouni’s son Sacred Life took the third Group/Graded win of his career when landing the Gr.3 Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park. The highly consistent seven-year-old is also Gr.1 placed and has only once been out of the first four once in 26 starts, when sixth in the Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup earlier this year.