Gary Stevens has threatened to quit his new job with Andre Fabre and leave France after being instructed by Longchamp officials to remove the American and French flags that he had attached to his breeches Sunday, according to a report in The Racing Post.

Stevens had ridden Polish Summer to a fifth-place finish in the Group 1 Prix Ganay wearing the emblems at the top of his breeches, the American flag on one side, the French flag on the other. After the race he was told by officials to remove the decals, and Stevens complied.

Haafhd won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday with a dominating performance that, even at this early stage of the season, stamps him as one of the world's premier milers.

Sweeping to the lead two furlongs from home, he ran on strongly at 5-1 to defeat Godolphin's Snow Ridge by 1 3/4 lengths with the Aga Khan's Azamour a length farther back in third. One Cool Cat, the 9-5 Aidan O'Brien-trained favorite, did no running at all, plodding home 13th of 14. He was later reported by the track vet to be suffering from an irregular heartbeat.

Michael Stoute will saddle Red Bloom as the the 7-2 favorite in the 1000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket on Sunday, the filly's first start of the season.

The winner of last September's Group 1 Fillies Mile at Ascot, Red Bloom is by Selkirk out of a French 1000 Guineas third-place finisher. Kieren Fallon will break Red Bloom from post 7 in the $531,000 Guineas against 16 rivals going a mile on grass.

Gary Stevens, who guided Polish Summer to victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic March 27, renews acquaintance with the Andre Fabre-trained 7-year-old in the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp on Sunday.

In the 1 5/16-mile Ganay, Polish Summer faces threats from Vallee Enchantee, the filly who beat older colts in the Hong Kong Cup last December, and defending champ Fair Mix, sixth in the Sheema Classic.

The selection, however, is Vespone, whose victory at Longchamp in the 1 1/4-mile Grand Prix de Paris last June suggests he is a course-and-distance specialist.

French invader Whipper can thrash the English home team in the 2000 Guineas Stakes, the first classic race of the European season, at Newmarket on Saturday.

Risk Seeker's victory in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot on Wednesday was overshadowed by the death of the grand old stayer Persian Punch.

As Risk Seeker, an Elie Lellouche-trained French invader, passed the post an 18-length winner of the two-mile prep for the Ascot Gold Cup, the 11-year-old Persian Punch was being eased in some distress by rider Martin Dwyer 100 yards from the line. As Dwyer dismounted, Persian Punch collapsed in front of the grandstand, dead apparently from a ruptured aorta.

American Post led throughout to take an otherwise chaotic Prix de Fontainebleau at Longchamp on Sunday, while Gary Stevens piloted Grey Lilas to victory in the Prix de la Grotte.

River Dancer gave a strong international field a 57-1 thrashing in the $1.8 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday, and Silent Witness lived up to his billing as the world's best turf sprinter with a record-setting performance in the Chairman's Sprint Prize.

American Post should deliver the goods at Longchamp on Sunday as he continues his classic preparations in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleu.

A winner of two Group 1 races last year at 2, American Post began this season with a handy score in the listed Prix Omnium II at Saint-Cloud on March 31. Trainer Criquette Head-Maarek is using the one-mile Fontainebleau as a springboard to the May 16 Poule d'Esaai des Poulains, or French 2000 Guineas, but it will also serve as a prep for the Epsom Derby on June 5.

NEW YORK - One of the reasons the Epsom Derby became racing's ultimate goal for more than 150 years was its ability to produce winners by sires who were themselves winners of the great classic.

In the early days of the Epsom Derby, that occurred rather often. The 1787 winner, Sir Peter Teazle, later sired four Derby champions. Waxy, the 1793 winner, would sire four future Derby winners, including Whalebone, who was the sire of three Derby winners.