Silver Patriarch completed a weekend Group One double for John Dunlop in the £92,970 Gran Premio del Jockey Club (12f) in Milan yesterday. The Arundel trainer was also on the mark with 25 to 1 shot, Mujahid, in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday. Pat Eddery's mount (7 to 10) recorded the third group win of his career by outbattling Paul Cole's Posidonas (Jimmy Fortune) by three parts of a length.
Frankie Dettori's German mount, Ungaro, was well held in third - two places in front of Michael Bell's Ivan Luis (Michael Fenton).
Earlier, Aidan O'Brien's Zinedine finished fifth to the German filly, Noble Pearl (26 to 1), in the £54,754 Group One Gran Criterium over a mile. Ben Hanbury's Zindabad failed to catch the front running winner by a neck in Italy's top juvenile prize.
Luca Cumani, author of a Milanese double on Saturday with Marmaduke and Sottvus, had to settle for fourth with Brave Kris in the Group Three Premio Bagutta (1m) won by Miss Carolina.
Meanwhile, Brian Meehan celebrated his first group one success as Tomba (106 to 10) turned on the style in the £50,505 Group One Prix de la Foret (7f) at Longchamp yesterday Last year's third, coming off a hard fought win in Germany, made smooth progress from sixth place under Kieren Fallon to lead over a furlong out.
Tomba, clearly relishing the mud, was soon in charge as he ran on to score by a cosy two lengths from the supplemented Charge d'Affaires. Keos was third but both other British raiders, Andreyev (sixth) and Muhtathir (last of nine), failed to shine.
Richard Hills reported that the French 2,000 Guineas second, Muhtathir, trained by John Gosden, failed to act in the mud. Hills rode Gosden's Saafeya to finish a three lengths second to Blushing Risk (47 to 10) in the £30,303 Group Two Prix du Conseil de Paris.
In a race in which the Prix Foy winner, Limnos, was a notable absentee, Mark Johnston's Fruits of Love was fourth of five under Olivier Peslier.
Taufan's Melody made history by becoming the first foreign horse to take the £327,381 Foster's Group One Caulfield Cup (12f) at the bonanza odds of 66 to 1 at Caulfield on Saturday.
The British longshot courted controversy earlier in the week when it was discovered that the raider was ineligible to run due to insufficent earnings.
However, the Victoria Amateur Turf Club invoked their rarely used discretionary powers to keep the horse in the race. Always to the fore under Ray Cochrane, the Lady Herries' stayer showed terrier like qualities to hold 100 to 1 shot, Lisa's Game, and the favourite, Tie The Knot, by a short neck and a long neck.
Not that drama ended there for the Sussex camp, as they had to endure the further ordeal of a stewards' enquiry. As the rider of the sixth, Chris Munce, protested against Taufan's Melody for causing interference after the latter shifted in sharply a furlong out.
The stewards deemed that neither of the hampered horses would have won and the placings remained unaltered but they banned Cochrane for a month and fined him £7,900.
Godolphin's Faithful Son ensured that he qualified for the Melbourne Cup by finishing a promising fourth under Damien Oliver.
