Head takes Prix Maurice de Gheest with Polydream

Polydream lunged late to provide trainer Freddy Head with a seventh victory in the LARC Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

The French trainer saddled Marchand D’Or to win three consecutive renewals of the six-and-a-half-furlong Group One between 2006 and 2008 and the brilliant mare Moonlight Cloud repeated the feat between 2011 and 2013.

Three-year-old filly Polydream travelled strongly in the middle of the pack that raced nearest the stands rail.

George Scott’s James Garfield led a trio of runners on the far side of the track for the duration of the race and Frankie Dettori’s mount looked set to be prevail entering the final furlong.

However, Maxime Guyon conjured a late burst out of Polydream and she poked her head in front in the shadows of the post.

Head told At The Races: “She’s a very good filly — a smashing filly with a lot of speed.

“She was the right type (for the race) and she reminds me of Moonlight Cloud. She won it three times. I don’t know if we’re going to do it three times with this filly, but obviously she’s very good.”

Polydream beat the high-class Laurens as a two-year-old before rounding off her juvenile campaign by chasing home Thursday’s Nassau Stakes heroine Wild Illusion in the Prix Marcel Boussac.

She finished last of 14 runners on her return to action in the French 1000 Guineas in May, before bouncing back with a comprehensive victory in a seven-furlong Group Three at ParisLongchamp on her latest appearance.

Head added: “She was lame after the Marcel Boussac and I think that cost us the race.

“This year I couldn’t run her in the spring, so I made my entry in the French Guineas, which was a bit too hard and she didn’t have the best of runs.

“She won brilliantly the other day and she’s a champion.

“We have to decide what to do now, whether we go back to a mile or if we make a sprinter out of her. We’ll see.”

James Fanshawe’s The Tin Man came from a long way back to finish third ahead of the Dean Ivory-trained Librisa Breeze in fourth. Kevin Ryan’s defending champion Brando was ultimately well beaten.