Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe: Japan’s Longchamp Dream Gathering Momentum

Is this Japan’s Arc year?

Shin Emperor takes on Delacroix at Leopardstown in Saturday’s G1 Irish Champion Stakes and there’s a growing sense that this could be the year Japan at long last wins its first G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Susumu Fujita’s colt was third in last year’s Irish Champion then flopped in the wet at Longchamp and is back to try and nail that double this time around. 

His charismatic trainer Yoshito Yahagi took Shin Emperor from Paris back to Tokyo last autumn for second place in the G1 Japan Cup, then bagged an impressive win in Saudi Arabia before a sub-par run in Dubai in March led to a long break.

But burgeoning Japanese confidence was fed by last weekend’s Arc trial win of the unheralded Byzantine Dream. The feeling is, if he can do it, then why not Shin Emperor who is Saturday’s focus in Ireland, or Japan’s exciting Derby winner Croix Du Nord who will test his Arc credentials in Sunday’s G3 Prix du Prince d’Orange at Longchamp?  

“You’ll be busy,” Yahagi’s racing representative Hiroshi Ando told Idol Horse after Shin Emperor had galloped at the Curragh on Tuesday morning under big-race pilot Ryusei Sakai, the inference being expect plenty from the Japanese raiders.

“All the Japanese horses (make) a strong bunch to challenge the Arc de Triomphe and we hope Shin Emperor will not disappoint this group. We hope it can be this year.”

There has been hope and even confidence before, mind you: hark back to El Condor Pasa, Deep Impact, Orfevre and a whole raft of the best names in Japanese racing’s history. All failed the Arc test, but this year there is positivity.

And why not? Yahagi’s record as a master trainer unafraid to test, learn and succeed is certainly a plus. Last year, Shin Emperor was prepared at Chantilly in France and flew to Ireland the day before the race. 

This time, the four-year-old chestnut arrived on August 29 at the Curragh, to the Rangers Lodge stables of Richard Brabazon – son of the great jockey Aubrey Brabazon – and his fast work under Sakai, who arrived Monday, pleased connections.

“He felt very well, very comfortable, I was very happy,” said Sakai after the colt had tracked a lead horse ridden by jockey Chris Hayes.

“He is a more mature and stronger horse now than last year, more experienced too … I also learned a lot from the experience at Leopardstown last year and I hope that experience can help us in the big race.”

Sakai was booked to warm up with two race rides on local runners at Cork on Wednesday and one at Clonmel on Thursday.

Owner Fujita won’t be in Ireland but Yahagi lands Friday after he has shopped for future stars at the Keeneland September Yearling sale.

The Irish Champions weekend also features the G1 Matron Stakes in which Fallen Angel shoots for a fourth top grade win. Her stablemate Venetian Sun is the best juvenile filly in Europe and she goes in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, while the colt she beat in the G1 Prix Morny, Gstaad, contests the G1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.

Australia’s G1 Nunthorpe Stakes heroine Asfoora brings further international flavour in the G1 Flying Five. And in Sunday’s feature, the G1 Irish St Leger, Melbourne Cup candidate Al Riffa seems set to take on Illinois.

The original St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday has Derby winner Lambourn looking to give Aiden O’Brien a ninth win in the Classic, but a Delacroix win would be his 13th in the Irish Champion.

Waller Stars Headline G1 Makybe Diva

The Australian Spring is hitting its straps and on Saturday at Flemington two star fillies, stablemates at that, will clash again in the G1 Makybe Diva Stakes.

Via Sistina is the queen of Australian racing right now and she proved it with a win last start in the G1 Winx Stakes – her 10th top grade victory – but she was pushed to secure the win that day by the three years younger Aeliana, also trained by the powerhouse champion Chris Waller.

The pair broke last and second last in that 1400m contest but moved strongly through the field into the straight. Via Sistina had first run and was never close to being headed, but for a few strides it looked like Aeliana would trouble her, only for Via Sistina to assert for a half-length victory.

There was enough in that though to have the makings of an in-stable rivalry and it is interesting that Via Sistina was rerouted to the Makybe Diva from next week’s 7 Stakes at Randwick after her owner Yulong’s initial Makybe Diva Stakes candidate Treasurethe Moment suffered a bout of colic.

It’s not common to have two mares of such talent competing from the same stable going head to head and when they do there’s the temptation to keep them apart, so connections should be applauded. The sport needs the best to be establishing ongoing rivalries, not ducking out for alternative options.

The race will also feature Mr Brightside who put behind him a dismal last-place finish in G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin in April with a solid second to Treasurethe Moment in the G1 Memsie Stakes last month.

This Week In World Racing History

There was plenty going on this week in the past, which is not surprising given that the world’s oldest classic race, the St Leger, is this weekend. Back in 1853 West Australian defeated nine rivals to become the first Triple Crown winner following wins in the 2,000 Guineas and Derby.

On September 14, 1985 the exceptional Oh So Sharp won the St Leger to become the fifth ‘fillies’ Triple Crown’ winner, having won the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks, but her win also carries the distinction of being the race that made Henry Cecil the first trainer in British history to surpass £1 million in prize money in a single season.

One of the most exciting head-to-heads this century happened at Leopardstown on September 8, 2001 when Fantastic Light and Galileo clashed in the Irish Champion Stakes. Coolmore’s Galileo had defeated Godolphin’s Fantastic Light in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot but the tables were turned in Ireland. With the Coolmore/Godolphin rivalry at its peak, Frankie Dettori rode a masterful race as Fantastic Light defeated Galileo by a head.

And on September 13, 1974 the great D. Wayne Lukas, who passed away in June this year, saddled up his first thoroughbred winner, Harbor Hauler, at Pomona, California. 

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

Adam Pengilly was on course at Sha Tin for Ka Ying Rising’s star billing at Sha Tin’s Hong Kong season opener last Sunday, and the Kennedy Awards racing writer of the year produced this must-read account of the day.

Adam Pengilly

The Common Thread Running Through Ka Ying Rising’s Trek To Everest

As it’s Irish Champions weekend, it seems only right to flag up this profile of Ireland’s six-time champion jockey Colin Keane, who his old boss Ger Lyons calls “the most underrated champion jockey on Planet Earth.”

David Morgan

Colin Keane Has Long Been Ready To Seize The Moment

Shin Emperor returning to Leopardstown after his fine third last year is another coup for the track in its ongoing pursuit of more international runners at this fixture. Earlier this summer Idol Horse spoke to Leopardstown’s interim chief executive Vicki Donlon, as well as senior executives at York and Ascot about how they work to recruit intercontinental runners to their big races, the difficulties they face, and why Japanese involvement is so coveted. 

Playing The Long Game

Ascot, York, Goodwood and Leopardstown Know The Value In Wooing The Japanese

Karl Burke has two leading lights in action at this weekend’s Irish Champions Weekend, the sensational juvenile filly Venetian Sun and the brilliant four-year-old filly Fallen Angel. Idol Horse visited Burke’s North Yorkshire stable early this year and spoke about his journey from struggling along with patched up jumps horses to becoming a classic-winning Group 1 trainer.

David Morgan

Stronger For His Trials, Karl Burke Is Attracting The Bigger Players

Racing Photo Of The Week

Even a Hong Kong downpour can’t dampen Brenton Avdulla’s delight as he soaks up the joy of starting the season with a win at the Hong Kong season opener.

The former Sydney champion was fourth in the premiership last season, which he rounded off with a win for one of his biggest supporters, champion trainer John Size, so it was no surprise that it was Size who provided the winning ride on Spicy Standard to kick-off this campaign. 

Global Blackbook

Forever Young showed last year that Japan is a serious factor in Kentucky Derby considerations and at Hanshin last weekend the Keeneland sale graduate Magna Victor emerged as a horse that might take the Churchill Downs route next spring.

There’s a long way to go but expect trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida’s colt to head to a Kentucky Derby points race at Tokyo or Kawasaki later this year after he sauntered to a 10-length newcomer victory on the dirt track.

Future Idols

Kentucky Derby On Radar For Japan’s Keeneland Graduate Magna Victor

World Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

🇯🇵 Sprinters Stakes
28 September
G1 Sprinters Stakes (IHFA-rated equal 89th)

Joao Moreira makes his return to Japan this weekend, partnering Mikki Madonna in the Rose Stakes at Hanshin. The primary reason for this Japanese term, though, is to partner Satono Reve in the G1 Sprinters Stakes. Unraced since Royal Ascot, Satono Reve is seeking to become the first horse since Fine Needle in 2018 to win both of Japan’s Group 1 sprints – the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and the Sprinters Stakes – in the same year. Lucky Sweynesse, second to Ka Ying Rising in the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup, G2 Centaur Stakes trifecta Kangchenjunga, Mama Cocha and Toshin Macau all emerged as contenders last weekend.

🇩🇪 Preis von Europa
28 September
G1 Preis von Europa (IHFA-rated equal 75th)

Charlie Appleby confirmed last weekend that Rebel’s Romance would attempt to become the first three-time winner of the G1 Preis von Europa since Soviet champion Anilin, who won in 1965, 1966 and 1967. He may face last weekend’s Grosser Preis von Baden winner Goliath, although co-owner John Stewart said a final decision would be made by trainer Francis-Henri Graffard.

🇫🇷 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Day
5 October
G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (IHFA-rated equal 5th), G1 Prix de la Foret (rated equal 98th)

Six Group 1s headline France’s biggest race day, including arguably the world’s premier mile and a half contest, the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Japanese stayer Byzantine Dream surged into contention by winning the Prix Foy. He is likely to be joined by Croix du Nord, Shin Emperor and Alohi Alii in a bid to give Japan its first Arc victory. The traditional Arc trials also produced Aventure, winner of the G1 Prix Vermeille and last year’s Arc runner-up, and G2 Prix Niel victor Cualificar.

🇦🇺 Might And Power Day
11 October
G1 Might And Power Stakes

The first day of Caulfield’s spring carnival features the G1 Might And Power Stakes, a key lead-in to the Cox Plate, the G1 Caulfield Guineas for three-year-olds and the G1 Toorak Handicap over a mile. The Might And Power Stakes, formerly the Caulfield Stakes, is set to attract star four-year-old Treasurethe Moment should she recover from a mild bout of colic that ruled her out of the Makybe Diva Stakes.

🇬🇧 Dewhurst Stakes Day
11 October
G1 Dewhurst Stakes

The G1 Dewhurst Stakes often crowns the best two-year-old in Britain. This weekend’s G1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes is likely to prove an important lead-in with Aidan O’Brien-trained Gstaad at the head of early markets. The meeting will also feature three Group 3 races as well as the Cesarewitch Handicap, which dates back to 1839. ∎