O’BRIEN’S ARC SHOCK BOOSTS ENABLE BID:
Withdrawals may boost Enable bid
THE Qatar Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe was last night thrown into chaos with trainer Aidan O’Brien forced to withdraw his four runners after they were caught up in a drama surrounding contaminated feed. O’Brien pulled out Grand Prix de Paris winner Mogul, Derby victor Serpentine, plus their stablemates Sovereign and Japan in a move which not only significantly weakened the opposition to hot favourite Enable in her bid to win an historic third Arc but also dramatically changed the tactical make-up of the race.
O’Brien said that horses also entered in races on the undercard trained by his sons Donnacha and Joseph would be withdrawn.
O’Brien’s team is one of the stables that have been affected by feed products from the Irish firm Gain Equine Nutrition being contaminated with Zilpaterol, which is unlicensed in Europe but used in the US to promote weight gain, mainly in cattle.
His two runners at Longchamp yesterday — Passion (fifth in the Prix de Royallieu) and Mythical (last of six in the Prix Chaudenay) — were allowed to start after blood and urine samples came back clear.
Test results on his Arc runners had not been expected until this morning but late last night the news emerged that O’Brien’s Arc team had tested positive for Zilpaterol.
A statement on his Ballydoyle stable twitter account read: ‘Unfortunately the results of the urine samples taken from the horses yesterday have come back positive from the French lab. There is a possibility that the contaminant may have left their system by the time of racing tomorrow but we have no guarantee of this and to protect the integrity of racing we have withdrawn all our horses from tomorrow. Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien will do likewise.’
Among the other high-profile withdrawals are Joseph’s Pretty Gorgeous in the Prix Marcel Boussac and Donnacha’s French Oaks winner Fancy Blue from the Prix De L’Opera.
The news from the O’Briens followed the decision of Newmarket trainer Roger Varian to withdraw all his runners at Newmarket, Redcar and Wolverhampton as a precaution after they were also caught up in the same problem.
The development, which sent shockwaves through the sport, massively diverts from what had seemed the big issue — whether Frankie Dettori-ridden Enable would be able to cope with the heavy ground to erase the memory of last year’s defeat and become the first horse to win Europe’s most prestigious all-age race three times.
Some might argue the defection of the O’Brien clan will devalue Enable’s performance if she wins but the second and third favourite — her stablemate Stradivarius and last year’s third Sottsass — are still in there and in years to come few will point out a weakened line-up if she manages to make history in
the 100th anniversary of the first running of the race.
After last year’s race on similarly heavy, gruelling conditions when she was cut down by 16-1 shot Waldgeist after hitting the front 400 metres out and going two lengths clear, Dettori is faced with a tactical question mark.
Classic-winning jockey turned ITV and Sky pundit Jason Weaver believes the 49-year-old faces the biggest ride of his career.
‘Dettori has produced some spectacular rides in this race but the pressure is massively on him and I honestly believe it’s the biggest ride of his career,’ he said.
‘Enable is the best in the race and I think she would have beaten them pretty comfortably on decent ground but extreme ground can bring unpredictable results. It was testing last year but they’re talking about it being even worse.
‘Was Waldgeist a better horse? I don’t think he was but tactics and ground can play a part. He got a great ride from Pierre-Charles Boudot but he was not under any pressure. He just sat out the back and picked up the pieces late on.’
Dettori and trainer John Gosden have both conceded Enable went too hard, too soon last year
Dettori had no joy on his five Longchamp rides yesterday, his best finish being second on Joseph O’Brien’s Patrick Sarsfield behind Skalleti in the Prix Dollar.
Miss Yoda, his mount in the Prix de Royallieu, was beaten 43 lengths in 10th in a race where it was almost 70 lengths from first to last. The race was won by Sussexbased trainer David Menuisier with Wonderful Tonight, a filly he hopes is a 2021 Arc prospect.
If that race didn’t illustrate the gruelling nature of conditions then the two-and-a-half mile Prix Du Cadran, won by Tony Mullinstrained Princess Zoe in the hands of 18-year-old apprentice Joey Sheridan, definitely did.
In a finish more akin to the Midlands Grand National, Dettori’s mount Barbados was beaten almost 56 lengths in sixth and was one of four finisher who just about walked over the line 100 lengths behind. Dettori said with a shrug: ‘It was just like it was last year.’