Enable lifted by Arc draw as rivals left in quandary
Sottsass and Ghaiyyath face taking tactical risks Former jockey Morgan banned for laying horses
Enable, the 4-6 favourite, was allotted stall nine for Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’arc de Triomphe at yesterday’s final confirmation stage.
While she has what may be considered a very reasonable draw, two of her big dangers, Sottsass (stall one) and Ghaiyyath (12), have been presented with tactical conundrums in the 12-strong field.
It will be the smallest field since Dylan Thomas beat 11 rivals under an ice-cool Kieren Fallon in 2007 and, as Lord Grimthorpe, her owner Khalid Abdullah’s racing manager, pointed out, the draw should not be critical.
“When there are 15 or more runners, so many other little things come into play,” he said. “I’d have been happy with anything between four and 10. You have to make the most of it – it’s no good if you are slowly away from a good draw, and there’s always a danger when a lot of horses want to go forward.”
Of Frankie Dettori’s mount he said: “Enable is tactically pretty flexible. She made all at York, she came from behind in the King George. It’s in Frankie’s hands – I don’t think he’s about to take a lesson from me on how he should ride her!”
In his trial, the Prix Niel, Sottsass also drew stall one and, even in a five-horse race, his jockey Cristian Demuro found himself hemmed against the rail until late on, when a gap came. He may have to ride the colt for a bit of luck, as James Doyle did last year on the fast-finishing runner-up Sea Of Class.
When Ghaiyyath won the Grosser Preis von Baden by 14 lengths he made most of the running. He and William Buick have drawn the wide outside stall in 12. It is not the end of the world, but if his intention is to make it a test of stamina, he may have to use up energy early on to get in front and across.
If Ryan Moore’s plan is to stalk Enable on Japan, he will not have to go hunting for her as he is drawn next to her, in stall 10. Magical, the mount of Donnacha O’brien who has finished second three times to Enable, is drawn in stall eight.
Meanwhile Tom Morgan, one of the top jump jockeys of the 1980s when he was champion in Ireland and leading jockey at the 1989 Cheltenham Festival, where he was runner-up to Desert Orchid on Yahoo in the Gold Cup, has been banned from licensed premises for 18 months for laying (taking bets on) horses while in the employment of David Wintle and Richard Phillips.