One of racing's great injustices was laid to rest at Newmarket yesterday when Pascal Bary joined the ranks of trainers to have won the stanjamesuk.com 1,000 Guineas. The man whose Six Perfections was deprived by pilot error five years ago was awash with emotion after Natagora repelled a flurry of pursuers to land a rough renewal of the fillies' classic.

It was a nail-biting finish to a race of great drama. At its conclusion, the rags-to-riches winner outfought Spacious and Saoirse Abu, with a host of late chargers flashing home all too late. Natagora's charm stems from her purchase price of €30,000 (about £23,400), a sum that would not have bought most vehicles in the Members' car park. Yet few of them possess Natagora's acceleration from a standing start.

Under Christophe Lemaire, Natagora pinged the stalls and was in front after 150 yards. Lemaire has an extraordinary record in Newmarket's major races. That he would enhance it to four championship triumphs from five rides was all down to the grey bullet beneath him. Lemaire was quick to acknowledge the fact.

“I didn't want to lead,” he said, “but when they are fast like her, you let them run. And every time you ask her to do something, she does it very well.”

In truth, Lemaire was more than just a passenger in dictating fractions that enabled him to save something for the finish. It was appropriate he should receive his trophy from Lester Piggott himself.

For all that, the happiest man in Newmarket was Bary, a leading trainer in France who handled Six Perfections's eclipse with great dignity. “I have dreamt of this since October,” Bary related. “Six Perfections had to wait behind horses but there was less chance of Natagora being unlucky because she can go from the front. Today she went right to the end.”

Six Perfections's slalom route down the Rowley Mile ushered Russian Rhythm into the winner's circle. Yet the boot was on the other foot this time, since the Cheveley Park Stud, which owns Russian Rhythm, saw its colours carried into second place by Spacious - and into fourth by Infallible, who caught fire after an early bump but weakened close home.

Spacious ran with tremendous credit for the James Fanshawe stable. She looked sure to nail Natagora 100 yards from the line but the winner is as brave as she is blessed by raw talent. It may be that Spacious's inexperience relative to Natagora made the difference, but that would be to decry a thoroughly deserving winner.

This was a race that might yield numerous different winners in slightly different circumstances. Saoirse Abu was forced wide before she could challenge, but the real victim of the piece was Nahoodh. So disappointing at Newbury two weeks ago, the Mick Channon-trained filly saw precious little daylight along the stands' rail throughout the final furlong.

“I just ran up the backside of the winner,” Richard Hughes, Nahoodh's jockey, said. “I could not go around them as they were six deep, and I felt I would have won [with a clear run].” Nahoodh certainly finished full of running in fifth, in a race in which less than two lengths covered the first six.

Farther behind followed Lush Lashes and Kitty Matcham who, in sixth and ninth places respectively, enhanced their Oaks prospects. They duly contracted with Ladbrokes: Kitty Matcham into 8-1 and Lush Lashes into 12-1, but the Oaks market was seriously stirred when Chinese White, trained by Dermot Weld, won impressively at Gowran Park later in the day.

Although victory earned Chinese White outright favouritism at 5-1, the sterile Oaks market is sure to undergo a number of revisions as the trials unfold in the next two weeks. Spacious, for her part, will not join the party. “She will not be going up in trip,” Fanshawe said. “She ran very well but Jamie [Spencer, who rode her] said she needed a stronger pace.”

If Saturday belonged to the Irish, Newmarket belonged firmly to France yesterday. Natagora's triumph followed that of Getaway, who made hacks of his opponents in the stanjamesuk.com Jockey Club Stakes. His powerful stride was reminiscent of Shirocco, the winner of this race two years ago for the same connections.

Like Shirocco, Getaway is owned by Baron Georg Von Ullmann, whose Manduro was the outstanding horse in Europe last season. And like that aforementioned pair, Getaway is traind by André Fabre, who saddled him to finish a closing fourth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe last season.

Fabre had no hesitation in pointing Getaway towards the Coronation Cup and King George, in which the son of Monsun will take plenty of beating. “He could win over ten furlongs,” Fabre said of Getaway, “but he is really a middle-distance, staying horse.”

Conversely, the speed machines were out in force for the Palace House Stakes, in which Captain Gerrard outpointed Sakhee's Secret. Nevertheless, connections of the latter were delighted with the seasonal comeback of their July Cup winner.