Ghaiyyath, seen by the Godolphin operation as a potential challenger for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, let his supporters down on his first start in Group One company on Sunday when he could finish only third in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp.

Charlie Appleby’s four-year-old was soon at the front of the five-strong field under William Buick, as he had been when recording a deeply impressive Group Two victory at the same course earlier this month.

The hot favourite could not quicken away from his rivals in the straight, however, and had nothing left as André Fabre’s Waldgeist swept into the lead on the way to a four-and-a-half-length success. Study Of Man, last year’s French Derby winner, edged out Ghaiyyath for second on the line.

Ghaiyyath was top-priced at 16-1 for the Arc before Sunday’s race but is out to 25-1 after suffering his first defeat since his debut at Doncaster in September 2017.

“William felt he hasn’t got the turn of foot on slower ground,” Appleby said. “But personally I feel he’s ready to step up to a mile and a half [from 10 furlongs] now.

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“Group One horses generally have a gear change. That’s why they are what they are. I’m not taking away from what he beat last time but he had a soft lead and got a nice distance in front so they had to work hard to pick him up. Today they sat close to him, he was there to be picked up and that’s what happened. We knew coming into the race that it would be a test for him but I’d be hoping to step him up to a mile and a half sooner rather than later.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Pink Dogwood remains the clear favourite for the Oaks at Epsom on 31 May after a half-length success on her three-year-old debut in the Listed Salsabil Stakes at Navan on Sunday.

However, Mohaather, the impressive winner of the Greenham Stakes at Newbury earlier this month, has been ruled out of next Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket after suffering a setback in training. Marcus Tregoning’s colt had been top-priced at 12-1 for the season’s first Classic.

“The vet tells me it’s bone bruising on his off-fore,” Angus Gold, racing manager to Mohaather’s owner, Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, said on Sunday. “We’ll have to x-ray it again in another couple of weeks and we’ll have a better idea of where we stand then.

“It’s a strange one, as these things tend to be a cumulative injury, but he’d shown no signs of lameness until Friday. He’s going to need a period out of training, possibly a couple of months. Hopefully we’ll get him back in the autumn.”