It wasn't just interference that cost Zarigana the French Guineas - and that's the key point for Shes Perfect's appeal

Rather than Mickael Barzalona's use of his hand to encourage Zarigana in the closing stages of Sunday's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, the team behind Shes Perfect might be better off focusing on the fact Barzalona did not have a whip to use in the final stages of the Longchamp Classic when the result goes to appeal in Paris. 

Before the stewards intervened on Sunday, I was left thinking Zarigana had – for the second time in her career – snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Longchamp. In last season's Prix Marcel Boussac, when she looked to have matters safely under control, she was inexplicably caught in the final stride by her 33-1 stablemate Vertical Blue.

I wouldn't necessarily label Zarigana as ungenuine but it's fair to believe Shes Perfect is the more resolute of the two, and it is not too far-fetched to think Barzalona losing his whip had just as much bearing on Sunday's result as the interference she suffered over a furlong from home.