Racinger wins at Saint-Cloud

Two of the world's greatest jockeys, past and present, combined forces to land the Group 2, $177,000 Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud on Tuesday, as Freddy Head gave Frankie Dettori a leg up aboard the victorious Racinger.

A 4-year-old Spectrum colt, Racinger led or dueled for the lead throughout as Dettori pulled out all the stops to hold off Turtle Bowl by a neck, with Passager 1 1/2 lengths back in third. The result was almost a carbon copy of the the finish of the Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc on April 2, when the margins between the first three were a neck and three quarters of a length over the same Saint-Cloud mile. The 7-1 Racinger was clocked in 1:39.10 in the Muguet on soft ground.

Head, whose four victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is one more than Dettori has had, won 21 French and 3 British classics during a brilliant 35-year riding career that included two Breeders' Cup Mile victories aboard Miesque. He hung up his tack in 1997, after a slow start in the training ranks, has been having increased success of late, scoring his first Group 1 triumph last August with Marchand d'Or in the Prix Maurice de Gheest.

* The Aga Khan has a new French Oaks candidate in Vadapolina. Trained by Andre Fabre, she took Tuesday's 1 5/16-mile Group 3 Prix Cleopatre at Saint-Cloud by 2 1/2 lengths as the 7-10 favorite.