Wonderful Tonight’s trainer is working backwards from Paris, but the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes over Saturday’s track and trip next month is a possible target on the way, particularly if there is still some cut in the ground. Menuisier, who grew up in north-east France and started his racing career as an assistant to Criquette Head-Maarek in Chantilly, moved to England just over a decade ago and is now based at the Coombelands training estate in West Sussex where Guy Harwood prepared the brilliant 1986 Arc winner, Dancing Brave. She’s Wonderful Tonight and wonderful all day.” She loves Longchamp and Ascot so we will keep an eye on all the races she can run in at both venues. “Wonderful Tonight showed a tremendous turn of foot which she perhaps never showed before.

“She was running against tough opposition with the benefit of at least one run so you always have to be on the side of caution, but she is amazing,” said Menuisier, who was celebrating his first success at the Royal meeting.

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.David Menuisier’s four-year-old is now a general 10-1 chance for the Arc, and if the ground is soft at Longchamp – as it tends to be – she will attract support from hard-nosed punters as well as the romantics with a soft spot for the Eric Clapton song after which she was named. She'll be a lovely broodmare and that's all we can think of really–that and the good times that she gave us. I'm taking her to the hospital this afternoon and I'm just relieved we can save her. “I'm just thankful we had her for the time we did. “She was in great form and we were just waiting to see if they got any rain at Longchamp before we made the final decision–fate decided for us, really. “It just shows how fragile they are,” Menuisier continued.

With Menuisier vocal all season about his plans to run Wonderful Tonight in the Arc, the filly indicated her wellness with wins in the Hardwicke and Lillie Langtry before checking in fourth in last month's G1 Yorkshire Oaks over ground dryer than ideal. Fifth behind the eventual Breeders' Cup winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix Vermeille on her next start, Wonderful Tonight had 1 1/4 lengths over the classy Pista ( American Pharoah) in the Royallieu before gliding over the soft ground at Ascot last October to best Dame Malliot (GB) (Champs Elysees ) by 2 1/2 lengths in the Fillies & Mares S. A €40,000 Arqana August yearling, Wonderful Tonight indicated her talent with a 2 1/2-length win in last August's G3 Prix Minerve.

Wonderful tonight