Sir Mark Prescott is congratulated by Vadeni's trainer Jean Claude Rouget after Alpinista's Arc victory © Photo Healy Racing
The reckless actions of Christophe Soumillon in a race at Saint-Cloud on Friday caused consternation. A ban of 60 days imposed on Soumillon by the local stewards for intentionally elbowing Rossa Ryan, causing the Irish rider to take a terrible fall, is viewed by most as far too lenient and I have to agree.
The French stewards are not necessarily known for their leniency and in the past have had no qualms dishing out long suspensions to other high-profile riders such as Kieren Fallon and Frankie Dettori for positive drug samples. Fallon was given a whopping 18 months worldwide ban in 2008 for a second failed drug test in their jurisdiction.
The reason for such long bans for jockeys found with traces of cocaine or other drugs within their system is that under the influence of such substances during a race a rider might endanger themself, other riders and horses by their actions. In other words, they might do something as reckless and dangerous as Soumillon did on Friday.
I can only presume that on this occasion the stewards took into account that Rossa Ryan miraculously avoided injury, but irrespective of the number of days of the ban, they should have stood Soumillon down with immediate effect. Allowing him to carry on riding for the rest of the week, including in all the major races at Longchamp, was poor judgement on their behalf regardless of what is normal practice.
The French authorities have hidden behind their rules to justify why Soumillon’s ban doesn’t come in effect for 10 days rather than an immediate suspension. I wonder if they would have stuck so rigidly to their rule book if Rossa Ryan had been seriously injured or God forbid killed in the incident.
Another decision by the French Authorities that caused a stir last week was the rating they allotted to the Australian mare Verry Elleegant in advance of her intended Arc bid. Connections of the mare were left with a dilemma, as she needed to be supplemented for the race at a cost of €120,000, but her French rating meant she was not certain to get a run in the big race.
In the end her connections opted to run her in a race on Saturday’s card at Longchamp instead. With the benefit of hindsight, it turns out the French handicappers did them a favour as Verry Elleegant ran poorly on Saturday, and on that evidence would have had zero chance of recouping any of the supplementary fee had she raced in the Arc.
The status of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe grows year on year, thanks in no small part to the international mix of runners. Seeing some of the best Japanese horses taking on the French, German, British and Irish horses sets this race apart from anything else run in Europe. Surprisingly so, when you consider it’s over 1m4f rather than the in vogue 1m2f, is invariably run on very soft ground and the luck of the draw plays a major role in its outcome. Maybe the €5 million purse is the overriding attraction.
This year’s renewal produced a thrilling finish and a worthy winner in Alpinista. With French Derby winner Vadeni finishing second and last year’s Arc winner Torquator Tasso close behind in third the form looks very solid, and it was refreshing to see two five-year-olds in the top three.
8 of the 20 runners were five years of age or older, which is most unusual for a Flat race where geldings are not permitted. These middle-distance performers tend not to be the most sought after at stud and this is the main reason why most of them are still in training. It would be nice to see more races catering for these sorts of horses as an alternative to gelding them to race over hurdles.
It was surprising to see all 20 declared runners for the Arc stand their ground in such testing conditions. Perhaps that’s also down to the power of the purse and the prestige of the event.
My personal highlight from the last week in Ireland was seeing Clifftop win at Bellewstown on Thursday. During my twenty odd years on the racing circuit Harry Rogers and his late wife Mary were ever present. They travelled the length and breadth of the country together from their Ardee base with their horses. They epitomised the hard working, small family run yards that are the backbone of the industry.
Mary died last year after a long illness, and it was heart-warming to see Harry train the winner of a race named in her honour at Bellewstown last week. The race was actually divided and Harry, who only trains a handful of horses these days, went within three quarters of a length of also winning the second division of Mary’s race with Bolero.
Harry said after the win of Clifftop: “Mary loved horses and loved animals. She was the brains of the operation and was at Bellewstown last year when this horse was second. That was the last day she went racing. This is a special win, and she must be looking down on us.”
