Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend | GB and Irish horses to follow at ParisLongchamp
By Ben Linfoot
16:53 · SUN October 01, 2023
We pick out a handful of horses trained in GB and Ireland that could hit the headlines at ParisLongchamp this weekend away from the feature Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The captain of the GB & Ireland Longchamp undercard team, Kinross went there and did it in last year’s Prix de la Foret, when he was in rude health, just as he is now. Last year he went into the race on the back of two Group 2 wins, this year he does the same, Ralph Beckett’s horse seeming to thrive on racing as he improves throughout the season once again. Last year he had a terrific autumn, kick-started by his Foret win, and it would be no surprise if this consistent son of Kingman does the same again here.
I’ve always thought there was a racehorse in Jack Darcy and he’s finally going some way to proving it. The big son of Gleneagles has gradually been getting to grips with the game this season and he built on the promise he showed at Goodwood and Newbury with an all the way success in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville at the end of August. Getting him to settle is key and forcing tactics could be the making of him, so it’s no surprise to see him go to France for another Group 2 where he looks ready for the drop back to 10 furlongs.
William Haggas is improving Sea Silk Road as a four-year-old after 11 starts and there could be more to come from her up in trip to 1m6f at Longchamp on Saturday. The daughter of Sea The Stars made up two lengths on Warm Heart from the Yorkshire Oaks to the Vermeille and the way she finished in France last time over 1m4f gives hope she can improve at this longer trip. Her pedigree also gives off positive signs on that score, as her dam is a half-sister to some proper stayers in Oriental Eagle and Oriental Fox, who won over 1m6f and 2m5f respectively, so this race looks the natural next step for her.
Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Justify has done nothing but improve since an inauspicious debut at the Curragh at the end of June. Only eighth that day in a race won by stablemate Ylang Ylang, she took plenty from the experience and won next time out at Leopardstown before returning to the Curragh where she had a ding-dong battle with Paddy Twomey’s A Lilac Rolla. She came out second best there, but, again, the experience did her the world of good and she bolted up by over six lengths in a Group 3 at the same track last time out. Unbeaten over a mile in two goes, she could become O’Brien’s first winner of the Boussac since Ballydoyle in 2015.
It looks a good renewal of the Prix de l’Opera but Lumiere Rock will have as enticing claims as any for Joseph O’Brien. The daughter of Saxon Warrior was in danger of becoming a nearly horse following a consistent but ultimately winless campaign, that until she rocked up at the Curragh in first-time cheekpieces last time out (replay below). The headgear had the desired effect, sparking a comfortable three-length win in the Group 2 Blandford Stakes, and the task now is to do it in even better company this weekend.
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