Stars Align for Wooded in Prix de l'Abbaye

Things have gone wrong for Wooded all year, but at ParisLongchamp they finally went right as he narrowly won the Prix de l'Abbaye (G1).

His trainer, Francis-Henri Graffard, had been forced to campaign him over longer trips for much of the season and he missed out on the Commonwealth Cup (G1) due to the difficulty of sending him to Ascot.

Patience is a virtue, and Graffard finally had compensation as the 3-year-old won by a neck, holding off a powerful late challenge from Glass Slippers, who was bidding to retain her sprinting crown.

"I was roaring," Graffard said. "I'm absolutely over the moon for him. I've always held him in the highest regard, but the season has gone a bit wrong. We haven't found the races over the right trip.

"I was confident ahead of the Commonwealth Cup, but sadly we had to miss it as we were unable to travel over. I was really gutted and he's struggled since, but he galloped last week and (winning jockey) Pierre-Charles Boudot said he felt like a different horse.

"He's much better on fast ground so I didn't have high expectations, but we had to run as there were no races left for him this year and we wanted to toughen him up for next season. He's going to be a lovely horse over six furlongs next year and I'm very excited."

Glass Slippers came agonizingly close to becoming the first back-to-back winner since Lochsong in 1994. As well as trying to buck a historical trend, she also had to defy a wide draw from stall ten.

"It looked like she might get there," said trainer Kevin Ryan. "She ran her heart out, and we're proud of her. Taking nothing away from the winner, she will have found it a bit difficult on the ground.

"She's run brilliantly from where she was drawn. She just doesn't know how to run a bad race. We'll take our time to decide her next target, but she has an invite to the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and also holds an entry in the Champions Sprint (G1), which may come too soon."

There was a tight finish with the John Quinn-trained Liberty Beach finishing a short neck in third, a length ahead of Lady In France.