Plumania upsets Prix Corrida

Daryakana suffered the first defeat of her career Monday at Saint-Cloud when Plumania beat her into third place in the Group 2, $160,000 Prix Corrida. The Andre Fabre-trained winner rallied from fourth to lead at the sixteenth pole for a 1 1/2-length victory over Celimene as Daryakana just missed catching the runner-up by a short head. The time for the 1 5/16 miles on good ground was 2:13.60.

It was Daryakana's first race since she won the Hong Kong Vase on Dec. 13. She was running at a distance 1 1/2 furlongs short of her best, and was spotting her five

rivals five to eight pounds.

The 11.20-1 Plumania had been knocking on the door of a victory like this for more than a year, during which time she had been third in the French Oaks and second in the Prix Vermeille, both times behind Stacelita. Plumania's next stop could be against males in the 1 1/2-mile, Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on June 27, when she would meet Daryakana on equal terms.

* Mahmoud Al Zarooni continues to outperform his former boss Saeed bin Suroor. On Monday at Cologne, he saddled Godolphin's Frozen Power to win the Group 2, $185,000 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen, or German 2000 Guineas. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, the 2-1 Oasis Dream colt came late to defeat Kite Hunter by a neck, getting the mile on good ground in 1:36.69.