ENABLE BEST IN EUROPE
SUPERFILLY Enable landed the mammoth £2.4million first prize in yesterday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.
She did it almost without breaking sweat and in the process, the 4-5 shot, provided Frankie Dettori with a recordbreaking fifth success in Europe’s most valuable race.
And it was high fives all round as Enable was gaining her fifth win at Group One level.
There have been some tight finishes in the Arc over the years, but this wasn’t one of them as, ® from the moment Dettori asked Enable to quicken up about two furlongs out, she rapidly went clear of her toiling rivals.
Backers might well have slipped away to the Pari Mutuel windows in a bid to beat the queues.
Enable is a credit to John Gosden’s conditioning skills, as at the end of an arduous season she simply pulled away, never looking in the slightest danger of relinquishing her lead. She is the first British-trained three-yearold filly to win the big race.
Godolphin-owned Cloth Of Stars closed a little towards the line to finish second. Jim Crowley steered Ulysses into third.
Dettori, who was thrilled with his fifth win in the race, said: “Enable is uncomplicated and has a big heart. C’est magnifique. She’s a tremendous filly.”
Gosden said: “She’s very special and Frankie had her in the right position for her to show her class and brilliance.
“She showed us at home she was in the zone. She was looking well, eating well, still had her summer coat. She enjoys her work and gave us every sign she was ready to run a race like that.
“It’s all about the filly and the owner-breeder Prince Khalid [Abdullah]. He bred the mother and for his farm to produce something like this is exciting for us all.
“I think it would be wrong to run her again this year. To go to the Breeders’ Cup would be wrong, too hard on the filly. We should consider next year.
“It would be wonderful to go to the opening of the new Longchamp and try to do it again.”
Enable’s success puts her at the top of the ratings for fillies of her age, as her biggest rival for that accolade, Winter, was only ninth.
Rhododendron’s head defeat of Hydrangea in the Prix de l’Opera emphasised neither is the equal of the Arc winner.