Ryan Moore showed his class once again as Camille Pissarro got the gaps in the nick of time to win the Group One Prix Du Jockey Club (2,000m) at Chantilly on Sunday.

The $3.4 favourite was always prominent in the box seat under Moore but as the field began to sprint in the home straight, he was stuck behind a wall of horses.

Camille Pissarro was forced to sit and suffer, but Moore kept the revs up on the Wootton Bassett galloper and when Bowmark began to weaken on the rail, the 41-year-old needed no second invitation.

The pair quickened up smartly into the lead between horses at the 200m pole and gained a winning break, fending off late challenges from Andre Fabre’s Cualificar and the John and Thady Gosden-trained Detain in the final strides.

Christophe Soumillon, who rode third-placed Detain, won on Camille Pissarro in the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1,800m) last season and Moore – perhaps tongue-in-cheek – gave the French star credit after Sunday’s success.

“The race went very smoothly. I had a good draw [barrier one], the pace wasn’t crazy, but the horse was very relaxed,” said Moore. “When I asked him, he responded well. Christophe Soumillon taught me how to ride him!”

And trainer O’Brien followed suit, with the French Derby distance seemingly a masterstroke by Soumillon.

“After the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains, when Christophe Soumillon got off the horse, he immediately told us to run him in the Jockey Club,” said O’Brien.

“He’s a miler … but he stays 2,000m, and that’s exactly what you need to win the French Derby. He’s a colt we’ve always really liked.”

Meanwhile, Croix du Nord bounced back from defeat in the Group One Satsuki Sho (2,000m) and confirmed his lofty reputation with a sparkling performance to win the Group One Tokyo Yushun (2,400m).

Ho O Atman made sure the Japanese Derby was a test, zipping out to a 10-length lead, with Yuichi Kitamura stalking the pace in the main group on $2.4 favourite Croix du Nord.

As the field turned in, Kitamura made his move and when he asked the Japan Racing Association’s Best Two-Year-Old Colt for 2024 for maximum effort, he responded by charging to the lead at the 300m.

Both Masquerade Ball and Shohei finished fast, but neither were ever going quick enough to land a glove on the next Japanese superstar, with Kitamura heaping praise on his partner.

“I felt it was my responsibility to make Croix du Nord a Derby winner ever since the colt won the Hopeful Stakes, so my feeling now is that I am relieved to have accomplished by mission,” said Kitamura.

“The colt felt great today and I was able to come into the race with every confidence, so victory itself came as no surprise to me.

“The break was smooth and after that, I was concentrating on keeping him in a comfortable rhythm more so than what position he was sitting in. In the stretch run, he responded really well and as I’ve said, I had every confidence in the colt and drove him on believing that he would make it to the wire a winner.”