HELISSIO sent a clear signal to his King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes rivals by cruising home in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in muddy Paris yesterday.
The French superstar made all in the hands of Cash Asmussen to score a crushing five-length win over Magellano on a soft Saint-Cloud track.
Paul Cole's Riyadian was a further three lengths back in third, with Darazari bringing up the rear of the quartet.
The new Helissio-Asmussen partnership thus got off to flyer, and the Texan was certainly impressed by the cruising speed of the 10 to 1 on shot.
Owner Enrique Sarasola said: "It would be lovely if the horse could win the King George and repeat his Arc de Triomphe win.
"We might be tempted to sell at that point. Failing that, we could always keep him in training another year with a view to winning a third Arc.
Helissio thus became the first horse since Rheingold in 1973 to win this race twice. All place bets were refunded.
Allied Forces looks set to represent Godolphin in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on Saturday enabling Willie Ryan to continue his Derby-winning association with Benny The Dip. The Dubai team's racing manager Simon Crisford described the Queen Anne Stakes winner as a "likely" runner in the Sandown highlight with Frankie Dettori aboard.
"A mile and a quartet should suit him well," he said. Frankie Dettori is retained by Godolphin so if the horse runs he should ride it."
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)