fourtothefloorracing's blog: Weekend Review: Arc De Triomphe 7th Sept 2013

Even though I didn't watch Treve's demolition job of her Arc rivals live it was easy to tell that something special had just happened, Twitter was abuzz with eulogising & from the right people, my Father too who is not renowned for going over the top with praise (he has been in racing for 50 years so has seen his fair share) was left dumbfounded at how effortless Treve's performance was.

See her awesome performance again here

So Treve was devastating but what of the vanquished;

Orfevre & Intello come out of the race with distinction, The big japanese horse has now been 2nd in two Arc's & without Treve may well have won yesterday's edition he also showed none of his wayward tendencies battling well to outstay Intello for 2nd.

Intello himself showed just how classy he is as I don't think he really stayed but his class got him into contention & has to be rated the best 3 year old colt in what has to be said is another disappointing year for the younger males. It is a shame that if as reported he goes to stud as he would make a lovely 4 year old.

Kizuna ran a good race if a little flat but least he confirmed form with our own awful Derby winner Ruler Of The World beating him much further yesterday.

Penglai Pavillion ran as I had predicted above himself, he made the running before appearing to be swallowed up but then showed admirable battling qualities to finish a clear 5th beating 7 Group 1 winners in the process, one hopes that he doesn't go downhill when he inevitably joins Godolphin as Masterstroke (last year's 3rd) has done.

The admirable Al Kazeem ran as well as he could from his draw & his long season, in all honesty it shows he is probably not from the Top Draw even though he is a Triple Group 1 winner as holes can be picked in those 3 wins still he has secured himself a role as a stallion for which he will be very popular having being a son of Dubawi.

As for the rest of the field they all finished in a heap so there clearly not anywhere near genuine Group 1 class which includes 2 awful Ballydoyle Classic winners in Ruler Of The World & Leading Light. Flintshire was clearly inconvenienced by the ground so may be better next year on better going but now has an awful lot to prove. For a change the big outsiders finished where they would be expected to finish while my hope Ocavango is just a very disappointing animal.

I have caught up with the other races from Longchamp as well today so well done old Maarek who really is a hell of a sprinter on soft ground mind you Catcall looks nailed on for a big one next year.

Indonesienne's performance in the Marcel Boussac was I thought impressive, she stayed on strongly to collar what I had imagined to be the winner beforehand in Lesstalk In Paris & won quite nicely. She looks a long athletic filly & considering she had tried to give Miss France 4 lbs last time its no wonder she was beaten, so off levels she must have as good a chance as Miss France in next year's Guineas if connections decide to bring her over.

The colts equivalent provided me with a winner on the day & I again was impressed with Karakonte's attitude as he battled on well to the line also it provides a tenuous form link to Berkshire as Bunker whom Berkshire beat easily at Royal Ascot beat Karakontie 2 starts ago.

The other performance that needs to be talked about is Moonlight Cloud who in my opinion was way more impressive than Treve's Arc, I mean with less than 2 furlongs to go she was 10 lengths off a double Group 1 winner who wasn't stopping (Gordon Lord Byron) yet when she was let go her turn of foot was simply electrifying as the ground was made up in barely 10 seconds & she went away to win in a hack canter, truly astonishing turn of speed.

Saturday's racing for me started down under, I was disappointed after having watched Sea Moon stay on powerfully to win his first race since moving to Australia to find out that he had been disqualified, barely any contact was made & it seemed incredibly harsh as he was always going to win for me. He has still not passed the first ballot for the Melbourne Cup due to this so that makes his prep much tougher.

His 2 stable companion's Seville (formerly A.O'Brien) & Masked Marvel (former J.Gosden) were also in action at Randwick racecourse on Sat, Masked Marvel appeared not to be willing to pass his opponent so looks a little dodgy for me while Seville (see below) won his 1st race since coming to Australia 2 years ago, in The Metropolitan Group 1 & has received a 1kg Caulfield / Melbourne Cup penalty thus passing the first elimination clause of the Melbourne Cup ballot. That penalty has taken Seville's Melbourne Cup weight to 54.5kg, leaving him 25th in the order of entry for the great race. He is now one of five Lloyd Williams-owned horses inside the top 30 in line for a Melbourne Cup start.

The big race down under on Saturday was The Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, it produced a pulsating finish as Happy Trails just prevailed from a blanket of horses including new Melbourne Cup favourite Fiorente who powered home to just get 4th, it was a cracking run considering he was given a hell of a lot to do (in fact it would appear that due to Sat's ride Nash Rawiller has lost the ride on Fiorente for the rest of the Spring Carnival, Damien Oliver now takes over).

Hawkspur got in all sorts of problems up the inside but in my eyes he didn't really pick up as you'd hoped when extracated, the 1 horse I would take out of Saturday's race is the NZ mare Silent Achiever (yellow colours in video above) who stayed on with Fiorente & Hawkspur not at the same rate of knots but very takingly especially considering she is a New Zealand Derby winner last year so will be much better when back over further, she has been tenderly handled on both her last 2 starts this season so she rates a huge player in the either the Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate next & should be very competitive in a Melbourne Cup.

My ante post Melbourne Cup play Waldpark turned up at a provincial track called Benalla on Sunday under a big weight, it turned out to be a strongly run affair as the winner went off like a scalded cat & was never caught. The track looked fairly tight & Waldpark was 15 lengths of the gallop, he was shoved along a good 4 furlongs out staying on past lesser horses but finishing a never nearer 5th. I was happy enough with the run but where it leaves him in terms of getting into the big spring races is debatable.

In England on Saturday Jamie Spencer took Ascot by storm with a treble but it was the performance of the Dean Ivory trained Tropics that caught the eye, he is the latest in a long line of handicappers to make the grade in group races, he won easily cruising up behind Music Master as Robert Winston took a pull in a sprint! before powering clear. He has improved all season but this was a fabulous performance, one would hope he can go on next season but as we have seen before this doesn't always happen, Dean Ivory has been here before as well with Sirius Prospect who looked fantastic on soft ground at the end of the season before taking another 2 years to win a race.

Music Master must rate the most likely of the pair to go on next year, his first start at 6f he travelled powerfully in front & at the 2 pole I was counting my winnings as he had all the field beat, the ground was probably not ideal as he could not hold Tropics finishing kick but back on decent ground next year he will be a major player in the sprints for his classy trainer Henry Candy, I would think a July Cup would suit him perfectly.

To many eyes Johan Strauss was given an awful lot to do on Saturday in a maiden at Newmarket & it appeared A.O'Brien agreed so son Joseph got a ticking off. I am all for that furor to dominate the headlines as it deflects from a very promising performance by the winner the Willie Haggas trained Seagull Star a well put together son of Sea The Stars out of a pretty decent Listed winning mare Dash To The Top, he travelled comfortably in behind the pace quickening up well to nab the leader & assert to win cosily. He is entered in the Derby & while it is pie in the sky to say he is a Derby horse at this stage his talented trainer does know what it takes to win the big Epsom event as he showed with the then once raced Shaamit back in '96, either way Seagull Star is a very nice young horse.

Also worthy of mentions are the 2 Irish jumping stars Sizing Europe & Captain Cee Bee who repeated their respective wins of last year at Gowran Park / Tipperary over the weekend showing that age is no barrier to true class.