Nothing to quell Alpinista in Sunday’s Longchamp Prix de 'lArc
Seasoned trainer for fifty years, Sir Mark Prescott, 74, had a rippingly sensible feeling about his Alpinista before the 101st €5 million Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday.
She coped well with really gruelling conditions, after much-needed rainfall.
Luke Morris rode an exemplary race on the 7-2 grey mare, sneaking into an empty patch on the rail, avoiding tightly packed runners. Titleholder (Kazuo Yokoyama 9-1), and Broome (Wayne Lordan 86-1), were bowling along all the way in front, but their ambitions faded as the Aga Khan's, Vadeni (Christophe Soumillon 3-1), made his bid just a neck adrift for a second.
Luxembourg, Westover, and Mishriff, were unable to handle the ground, but Torquator Tasso (Frankie Dettori 7-1), rallied strongly in third, not minding a bit. Hordes of fans from Britain and Ireland were football vocalistic, as Alpinista returned to the winner's enclosure. Jim Crowley, who had earlier been victorious, finished last on Mostahdaf, never being involved in the conversation.
Kirsten Rausing's homebred earned an automatic place in the $4-million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win And You're In.
The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 82 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 4-5.