FRANKIE Dettori was left stunned as Lady Aurelia was nabbed on the line by Marsha in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

The Italian had raised his arm in triumph after passing the post on the American speedster, the 10-11 favourite, only to hear the judge announce Marsha as the winner by a nose.

Bowing his head in disbelief after dismounting from the Wesley Ward-trained filly, all he could say was: "I'm in shock, I thought I'd won a neck."

Like his jockey, Ward thought Lady Aurelia had won, but was proud of her in defeat once when realisation set in.

He said: "I thought we'd won simply because Frankie did, but that's racing. I have been second in this race twice now and it's tough to take.

"She's a true champion, these things happen. She ran a brilliant race and the other filly ran us down.

"I think we got beat fair and square. It happens, I'm not going to make excuses. She's run a fantastic race and there were no issues

"Hopefully I will be back another day and we will look towards the Breeders' Cup now."

Marsha's owners, Elite Racing Club, were understandably delighted to see the Sir Mark Prescott-trained four-year-old return to top form under Luke Morris, and a repeat win in the Prix de l'Abbaye will now be the objective, for which she is the 2-1 favourite with Paddy Power.

Prescott was in Ireland, where he said: "To finish in front of Lady Aurelia on a flat track is a great performance.

"Lady Aurelia is a marvellous filly, so to be able to say we have arguably the fastest filly in the northern hemisphere, we are very lucky.

"She probably won't run again before the Abbaye now."

Morris admitted he thought he had just lost out on the 8-1 shot.

He said: "I wasn't sure and when I saw Frankie put his arm up, I was gutted as I thought he had won, then someone said congratulations to me and it turned into jubilation."

Prescott missed the moment of Group One glory as he was in Ireland on a two-day trip looking at yearlings.

In another extremely close call, PJ McDonald admitted being surprised when hearing he had got Montaly (16-1) up on the line to deny Dartmouth a victory for the Queen in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup.

It looked for all money that Dartmouth had held on, but Andrew Balding's six-year-old was a nose to the good as Montaly supplemented his Chester Cup success earlier in the season.

"Across the line I didn't know I'd won. I thought I was second. It was a surprise when the lads said I'd got it," said McDonald, who made it a double on the highly-promising Dream Today in the Convivial Maiden Stakes.

"I was took off my feet early in the race. Coming out of the bend, the horse came good. I didn't think I was going to win but I knew he was going to run a big race three out. "

Betfair slashed Montaly's odds to 14-1 from 33-1 for the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot in October.

A rare visit to England for Irish jockey Chris Hayes paid off as Talaayeb (9-1) bounced back to form in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes.

First rider for Sheikh Hamdan in Ireland, he came over for just the one ride as he could do the weight (8st 6lb) whereas Jim Crowley would struggle and was put on the owner's other horse in the race, Rusumaat.

Things had not gone for right for Talaayeb and she had just one run since finishing fourth in the 1000 Guineas, but her victory showed not only had she turned the corner, but so has trainer Owen Burrows after saddling Massaat to win the Hungerford at Newbury on Saturday.

Burrows said: "It's nice to see her back. It was a great run in the Guineas.

"She's in the Group One race in Ireland (Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes) on September 9. We'll have a chat and see.

"Chris Hayes hadn't ridden for me before. She only had 8st 6lb. Jim couldn't do that but Richard (Hills) and Angus (Gold) know him as he rides for Sheikh Hamdan in Ireland."