The Fugue hits the high notes

Trips to Paris and California are on the agenda for The Fugue after she bounced back to her brilliant best in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks yesterday.

Beaten just a neck by Shareta in monsoon-like conditions a year ago, John Gosden’s four-year-old made a most encouraging seasonal return when third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She blotted her copybook for the first time when finishing last of seven runners in Sandown’s Coral-Eclipse, but with a dirty scope a viable excuse, she was a 2-1 favourite to get back on the winning trail on the Knavesmire.