Orfevre's daughter Lucky Lilac enjoys poignant win for Soumillon

Seven years on from Orfevre's neck defeat in the Arc, his rider Christophe Soumillon enjoyed a special Grade 1 success in the Queen Elizabeth Cup on Lucky Lilac, a daughter of the great Japanese star.

The four-year-old, trained by Mikio Matsunaga, was kept on the inside rail by Soumillon before quickening past the front-running Crocosmia in the home straight to win by a length and a quarter. Favourite Loves Only You lost her unbeaten record in finishing third.

Soumillon has a short-term JRA licence and returned to Japan seven years since his last stint. The victory gave him a third Japanese Grade 1 and a second for the daughter of Orfevre, on whom he finished second in the Arc in 2012 and 2013.

Christophe Soumillon: back in Japan after a seven-year break

Soumillon said: "I'm very happy to have won a Grade 1, especially because she is Orfevre's daughter. I was very confident when I saw how good she was in training but today she was even better.

"In the race, I would have preferred to have her another position closer. The pace was not very fast, so I thought it would be a little bit hard to make up ground, but I took the inside course and she really quickened well. At the final furlong, when I saw the gap was still open, I was confident that I had won."

Oisin Murphy, who had his first day back riding in Japan after a successful spell last season, finished 11th on Uranus Charm.

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