Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac - Criterium des Pouliches (Group 1)

THE Arc fixture began not just with steady rain but also with a pair of Group 1 results so baffling that most punters in attendance had both their bodies and their spirits dampened.

The action kicked off with a nine-runner edition of the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac which was meant to be the coronation of a new superstar in the shape of Zarigana, an offspring of Siyouni who is also a granddaughter of one of the great Arc winners, Zarkava.

She seemed to be in control virtually throughout the course of this mile contest and, though she did take a while to master O’Brien’s Exactly, who excelled herself under a perfectly-judged front-running ride from Soumillon, she somehow got caught right on the line by her unheralded Francis Graffard-trained stablemate, Vertical Blue, (Alexis Pouchin) who was sent off at odds of 100/1 by the British bookmakers.

Confusion

Graffard was covered in confusion afterwards, even going as far as saying that when you have two differently-owned runners in the same race it is perhaps better for them to finish 1-3 rather than 1-2. He also made the point that Zarigana’s being forced to chart a wide course had probably cost her the race.

That being said, how Vertical Blue, who was beaten on merit at Lyon Parilly on her previous start, was good enough to land a marquee event like the Boussac is anyone’s guess. Her victory continued an exceptional season for the Tally-Ho Stud sire Mehmas.

Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Group 1)

FRESH from his four-timer at Longchamp on Saturday, O’Brien was expected to land the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere with his first-time-blinkered Wootton Bassett colt, Henri Matisse.

The master of Ballydoyle did indeed combine with Wootton Bassett to secure the prize, but the picture painted at the finish was rather different to the one envisioned beforehand.

O’Brien’s second string, Camille Pissarro, was delivered out wide with perfect precision by Soumillon to beat Brian Meehan’s Prix Morny runner-up, Rashabar, by a neck with the trail-blazing front-runner Misunderstood a length and three-quarters back in third and Henri Matisse only fifth.

A beaten favourite four times in five starts since getting off the mark at the first attempt at Navan in April, Camille Pissarro had his less loyal supporters pulling their hair out here, scoring at odds of 12.4/1.

The winning trainer was quick to give the credit to the jockey, saying: “I think being produced very late was probably the key. Let him go to sleep. Christophe’s given us all a masterclass.”

“We always thought the world of him and he’s a big horse who is only now getting better and stronger. He should get a mile no problem next year, he’s a Guineas horse.”

As for Henri Matisse, O’Brien opined: “We put the blinkers on him because he was immature.

“Then he got a bad bump early and I’d say that shocked him. I don’t think that we should be losing the faith.”

Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (Group 1)

HAVING twice finished behind Bradsell this season and seen Believing’s backend on no less than four occasions, Makarova had the last word in their arguments when signing off a 28-start career which began with her allotted a rating of just 68 with a highly popular success in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines.

Home-bred by Jeffrey Hobby’s Brightwalton Stud in Berkshire and trained in Lambourn by Ed Walker, the five-year-old daughter of Acclamation came storming through from midfield under Tom Marquand to overhaul the favourite, Brasdsell, ridden by Marquand’s wife, Hollie Doyle, with half a furlong to run and score by a length and a quarter. Bradsell held on for second, a head in front of Believing.

“That’s her last race so it’s pretty special,” an ebullient Walker revealed. “She got a good break for once and Tom’s been such a massive part of her, so it’s a huge day.

“The rain came at just the right time. She was hopeless at two and looked slow, but she’s just got better and better.”

Prix de l’Opera Longines (Group 1)

A 1-2 for Graffard in the Boussac. 1-2 for Mr and Mrs Marquand in the Abbaye. Then the training duo of John and Thady Gosden repeated the trick by saddling the first two home in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera Longines courtesy of Friendly Soul and Running Lion.

Always handy in a race in which Almara set steady fractions in front, Friendly Soul moved smoothly into the lead passing the two-furlong pole and held off Running Lion by three-quarters of a length to give the much-maligned Kieran Shoemark his first top-level triumph since becoming the Gosdens’ stable jockey.

Sparkling Plenty pulled hard early and did well to finish strongly into third while the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Fallen Angel seemed to not quite see out this longer trip in fourth.

An amazing Arc weekend for Aidan O’Brien finished on a rare low note when his strongly-fancied pair of Content and Ylang Ylang filled the last two places. Even the very best can’t win all the time.

Qatar Prix de la Foret Presente par Education Above All (Group 1)

PATIENCE has been required for supporters of Ramatuelle, a daughter of Justify who looked like ‘the next big thing’ early last season yet, while never running a bad race, has since suffered defeats in all three of her Group 1 starts.

Given a break since June by her impressive young trainer Christopher Head, and sporting the silks of the watching basketball star Tony Parker, she produced a career best to see off a classy field of 15 rivals and score by fully three lengths.

Now she is set to head off to California for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a race which Christopher’s father, Freddy, won twice as a jockey and three times as a trainer, in the country where Parker made his name in the NBA.

Kinross, running in this event again having finished fourth, first and second in previous years, was second once more, denying his trainer-jockey combination of Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan the perfect end to a stupendous day.