Jack Nicholls claims first Group One as Miss Yechance wins Prix de l’Abbaye

Jack Nicholls secured his first Group One victory on Sunday as Miss Yechance won the Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp, according to the Guardian’s live reporting from Arc day. The 20-year-old was riding in his first race at the highest level and delivered the Karl Burke-trained filly ahead of Shiri and Mission Central in the five-furlong sprint.

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Miss Yechance, who had been supplemented for the race, returned at 9-2. Nicholls was alongside Ryan Moore on Mission Central inside the final furlong before securing the win, while Shiri finished strongly to take second. The result gave the young rider a top-level success on a card whose feature event was the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The victory also extended a family connection with the Abbaye. Nicholls is the grandson of David “Dandy” Nicholls, the sprint trainer who won the race with Continent in 2002, and the son of former jockey and now trainer Adrian Nicholls. His own breakthrough came aboard a filly who had already won the World Trophy at Newbury in September, adding the Abbaye to that success.

Speaking after the race, Nicholls credited Miss Yechance for the performance and thanked her owners and Burke for trusting him with the ride. He said he had not expected to get an opportunity in a Group One and described an experience unlike anything he had previously felt. His account emphasised keeping the filly comfortable and allowing her to do the work.

Elsewhere on the card, Amusingly won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for Francis-Henri Graffard after overcoming a slow start. She was the only filly in the field. Graffard had switched her from the Prix Marcel Boussac and said afterwards that a possible Breeders’ Cup trip would need discussion with the team; no decision was announced in the report.

Green Empress took the Marcel Boussac for Joseph O’Brien, narrowly resisting Data, with Queen Of The Day third. Later, Miss Scott won the Prix de l’Opera for John and Thady Gosden, ahead of Precise and Pink Panthera. True Love then gave Aidan O’Brien victory in the Prix de la Forêt, beating Nighttime and Puerto Rico.