Sagamix, the unbeaten winner of last year's Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, proved a major disappointment when only finishing fourth of five in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp yesterday.

Andre Fabre's four-year-old started an odds-on favourite to maintain his record but was beaten over seven lengths into fourth place behind Dark Moon Dancer, with jockey Olivier Peslier unable to get any tangible response in the home straight.

The ex-English-trained Dark Moon Dancer (Gerald Mosse) fended off last year's French Derby winner Dream Well by a head with Croco Rouge a length back in third.

Winning trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre mapped out Dark Moondancer's immediate future when commenting: "We might go next for the Coronation Cup and then for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud."

The Godolphin team put a brave face on the Kentucky Derby defeat of Worldly Manner after arriving back in Britain yesterday morning. Worldly Manner, the sole Saeed bin Suroor challenger after the eveof-race defection of Aljabr, travelled easily at the top of the home stretch but faded to finish seventh to the D Wayne Lukas-trained winner, Charismatic.

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford blamed a want of stamina for the colt's defeat. He then nominated the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico a week on Saturday, at nine and a half furlongs just 110 yards shorter than the Kentucky Derby, as Worldly Manner's next objective.