Brave Emperor can't keep the British end up on another big weekend for France

Brave Emperor has done sterling service, representing Britain in mainland Europe this year with wins at Cagnes-Sur-Mer, Krefeld and Deauville. Briefly, it looked as though he might add a fourth pot on Sunday in the Oettingen Rennen, a German Group 2 which has been won by British-based horses three times in the past decade.

He was in front at the turn in, gamely sticking his head out and making for the stands' rail. But one of the local runners, Calif, turned in a classy finish so Brave Emperor had to settle for second – and that was as good as it got for the British and Irish contingent in Sunday's major European prizes.

We have come to expect the involvement of familiar horses in Group 1 races across the water, but this has been an unusually strong year for the home team in France's major contests and that was presumably part of the reason why the Prix du Moulin was an entirely local affair, reportedly for the first time since 1977. As Paul Revere nearly said: "The British aren't coming!"