Racing: Mastercraftsman's 2000 Guineas hopes were dashed as he could finish only a well-beaten fourth behind Naaqoos in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Grand Criterium).
Trained by Freddie Head, who has truly enjoyed a golden season, the Oasis Dream colt made nearly all the running for Davy Bonilla.
And while his sister had scored only 35 minutes earlier with Proportional, Head racked up his fourth individual Group One winner of the season.
Criquette Head-Maarek's Proportional ran out an impressive winner of the Total Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day at Longchamp.
Always prominent in the fillies' Group One event, Stephane Pasquier asked his mount to go after the long-time leader Marquesa a furlong and a half out and she quickened impressively.
David Wachman's Again could never get competitive from her wide draw and it was left to Elusive Wave to chase the winner home.
Marquesa, acting as a pacemaker for Again, set a searching gallop up front and had most of her rivals in trouble at halfway before doing ever so well to stick on for fifth.
Cooperbeach, sent off favourite for the Sheikh Mohammed, Andre Fabre and Dettori axis, got going way too late and flashed home for third.
But the winner, who returned at an industry price of 20-1 and is owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, looks a filly out of the top draw.
Blue Square gave Proportional a 10-1 quote for next year's 1000 Guineas, but that was quickly cut to 7s. She's as short as 6-1 in places for the Newmarket Classic.
Head-Maarek said: "I have always had faith in her. The first time she ran in Deauville I thought she was a very good filly, she was my best and I thought she would win that race.
"She didn't understand what we asked her at Deauville. She was green, then I ran her again and she won very well at Chantilly.
"I asked the Prince if he would let me run her here and I think we did the right thing.
"She'll be entered in the 1000 Guineas and she will tell me what to do. She's the boss."
Jean-Claude Rouget said of the three-length runner-up: "It was a very good performance and I bought her from Richard Hannon earlier in the year.
"She is finished for this season now and we'll now try and get her ready for the Guineas.
"On pedigree she will stay further than a mile but we will see about that nearer the time."
The day started in chaotic fashion as a false start was called in the Prix de l'Abbaye despite most of the runners racing for well over three furlongs.
In scenes reminiscent of the infamous Esha Ness race that never was in the 1993 Grand National, jockeys were soon looking at each other in amazement.
One horse failed to leave the stalls as Fleeting Spirit's gate refused to open, leaving a bemused Ryan Moore to look on as the runners charged away.
Unfortunately, the Hungarian raider Overdose blazed a trail at the head of affairs and completed the course but by the end of the five-furlong race not many were still racing.
Confusion followed but news filtered through that the race would be rescheduled to be re-run at 5.30pm.
Jockey Darryll Holland was on board Kevin Ryan's Desert Lord and told BBC Sport: "There was so much confusion down at the start, they took an age to load them up.
"Nobody knew if it was a false start or not and when I saw horses coming round me I just thought I'd better keep going.
"I couldn't stop my lad anyway, I was a passenger, when those sprinters get rolling there is no stopping them.
"He's just run flat out for five furlongs so I wouldn't have thought Kevin would run him again later on."
Fleeting Spirit banged her head twice on the unopened stalls and a decision will be made later on her participation.
Frankie Dettori was on Dandy Man: "To try and pull up these sprinters at full speed is almost impossible and I realised about halfway that it was a false start."
Paul Hanagan was on Green Manalishi and said: "I didn't see anything to say it was a false start and to try and get these horses back to a walk is impossible."
Coral, Ladbrokes William Hill and the Tote said that all bets placed will stand on the re-run with Rule 4's applying in the case of non-runners.
The four firms will also allow customers who placed bets on the Abbaye to cancel them until the start the start of the rescheduled race.