Bookies slash the odds on Lashes; WEEKEND ROUND-UP.

DESPITE the paucity of this weekend's racing, Classic clues still thankfully emerged from Newmarket on Saturday. Long Lashes was roundly chopped in the betting for next year's 1000 Guineas after her uplifting success in the skybet.com Sweet Solera Stakes.

Purchased by Godolphin following a debut success for Jessica Harrington at the Curragh, the Americanbred horse was cut to 16-1 from 25s by William Hill for next year's Classic, and was introduced at 20-1 for that prize by Paddy Power. Skybet cut her to 20s from 33-1. In proving a length too strong for Blue Maiden under Ted Durcan, the 21 favourite survived a scare when she was thought to be going into season just hours before the race.

Godolphin's trainer Saeed bin Suroor will now point Long Lashes at some of the first Classics to be staged at Meydan, namely the UAE 1000 Guineas and the UAE Oaks.

Meanwhile, the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh will come under consideration.

Richard Hughes enjoyed another outstanding afternoon's work at Ascot as a 377-1 treble sealed the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup for himself and his Irish teammates.

It will not quite compare with his hat-trick on the first day of the Royal meeting aboard Paco Boy, Canford Cliffs and Judgethemoment, but it was enough to claim the Silver Saddle - a prize he took back in 2002.

Ireland ended on an incredible 101 points from the overall placings from Hughes, Seamie Heffernan and Neil Callan, while Hayley Turner's Great Britain team were runners-up on 56.

Hughes contributed 49 of those, with Turner and the Swede Fredrik Johansson drawing for second on 30 each. Luca Cumani's former assistant Christophe Clement recorded the biggest victory of his career when Gio Ponti lifted the Arlington Million.

Ridden by Ramon Dominguez, the hot favourite beat Just As Well by a length and a quarter, while the Walter Swinburn-trained Stotsfold finished best of the European raiders in third place.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Black Bear Island looked like securing his first top-level success in the Secretariat Stakes, only for favourite Take The Points to catch him on the line.

The Beverly D Stakes also stayed in the US following a convincing performance by Dynaforce, who beat the Alain de Royer Dupre-trained Alnadana.

William Haggas' King's Apostle (7-1) confirmed his reputation as a sprinter of the highest order with victory in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville yesterday.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, the fiveyear-old came through a gap between Lesson In Humility and Sayif, and held off Mariol to record the biggest success of his career.

Viscount Nelson produced a solid, if unspectacular, display to win the Listed Coolmore Hurricane Run Stakes at Tipperary.