Frankie riding at the top of his game ahead of the Arc
Frankie Dettori equaled his best ever season at the highest level and did so with a flawless frontrunning ride as Star Catcher added the Prix Vermeille to her win in the Irish Oaks in July. It was the jockey’s 16th Group 1 winner of 2019 but as a trial for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe it proved less significant, as Star Catcher is most unlikely to make the trip back across the Channel for the big one in three weeks’ time.
Instead Star Catcher could head to Champions Day and the Breeders’ Cup in America while Enable, her stable companion at the John Gosden yard, attempts to win the Arc for the third year running. There could be no better moment for Dettori to register his 17th Group 1 win, though he is in such outstanding form at present, with four wins from his last five Group 1 starts, that his personal record may well be history already by 6 October.
“Frankie loves this track and I always say it’s probably the most difficult course in Europe to ride,” Gosden said afterwards. “He was able to set a proper tempo, then go through the gears and do what he does so well. He’s a genius like (American legend) Bill Shoemaker for keeping a little bit up his sleeve.”
There was compelling evidence to back up Gosden’s opinion of Longchamp just half an hour later, when Cristian Demuro, riding the hot favourite Sottsass in the Prix Niel, somehow managed to get himself boxed in by the other four runners in the race, one of which was running as his pacemaker.
There are probably runways at major airports that are narrower than the final straight at Longchamp, but it was clear that Demuro was going to struggle for space even before the small posse of runners turned for home.
Having been boxed for well over 200m in the straight, Demuro then compounded his problems by going for a gap against the far rail that existed only in his imagination. It is to Sottsass’s immense credit that, despite being stopped in his tracks with a 200m to run, the three-year-old then managed to quicken impressively and dig his rider out of a very deep hole.
Sottsass, the French Derby winner, had a typical French preparation for the Arc and looks like a more realistic contender for the home team than Waldgeist, who took the Prix Foyon the same card. Jean-Claude Rouget’s colt is now top-priced at around 7-1, in a market headed by Enable at 4-5.
At The Curragh, Pinatubo ran away with the Group 1 National Stakes, bursting clear with just under 400m to run before eventually crossing the line nine lengths in front of Armory.
It was a remarkable performance by Charlie Appleby’s colt, who is now nudging odds-on for next year’s 2000 Guineas with some bookmakers but, is toppriced at 6-4. He started at 1-3 on Sunday, having already registered impressive wins at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood.
“He’s a trainer’s dream once you get to know him, because he doesn’t excite you in the morning, to say the least,” Appleby said. “We started his career off at Wolverhampton for a reason, as we didn’t really know he was in the yard. He’s the best horse I’ve ever had as a two-year-old, there’s no doubt about it.
“As soon as William (Buick) gave him a squeeze, he soon came back on the bridle and from two down I couldn’t see him getting beat. It’s not often you can say that at this level.” – The Guardian
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