The Arc! (updates, etc.)...
 

From Racing Post...

Deep Impact does first piece of work in France
by Desmond Stoneham

CONNECTIONS of Japanese superstar Deep Impact, who on Friday did his first piece of light work after arriving in France, have confirmed the colt will not have a prep race for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The four-year-old, brilliant winner of the Japanese triple crown last term, is stationed at trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias’ Chantilly yard ahead of the October 1 showpiece, for which he is a best-priced 5-1 third-favourite behind Hurricane Run.

On Friday morning Deep Impact was in action at Chantilly. Isao Okano, the head of theJapan Racing Association in Paris reported: “Deep Impact did a canter on the sand over 2000m (1m2f) with his work rider.

His big-race jockey Yutaka Take saw the work and he was on board a pony. His trainer Yasuo Ikee has arrived and the horse will probably work on the grass next week.” Looking ahead, Okano reiterated the intention for the colt not to appear in any trial for the Arc. “Deep Impact has come over to France for just the Arc and nothing else,” he said.

“He will not run in thePrix Foy. He travelled well and we are very pleased with the way he has settled down at Chantilly. He seems to have adapted very well to his new surroundings. All his food and water for his stay has been brought over from Japan.”

The son of Sunday Silence has been beaten just once in 11 starts, suffering the only defeat of his life at the hands of King George third Heart’s Cry in last year’s renewal of the prestigious Arima-Kinen.

Heart's Cry is by Sunday Silence, too, isn't he?

He sure is. :)

Hurricane Run and Deep Impact....I can't wait. That will be the race of the year. I think the Arc will probably be better than any of the BC races this year. The rest of the field (I am assuming Heart's Cry will be there too) should be solid and then you have these two monsters at the top. Should be incredible.

I think Shirocco has a shot to win the Arc, he's at least top 3, IMO :D

Don't forget about Pride. :cool:

Possible runners (..... though some will opt for the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes at Newmarket instead)...

Longchamp - Prix l'Arc de Triomphe - Sunday 1st October 12:21:16

Hurricane Run
Shirocco
Deep Impact
Dylan Thomas
Alexander Goldrun
Hearts Cry
Alexandrova
Ouija Board
Pride
Sir Percy (injured, due to have first work back at the end of the week)
Visindar (injured)
David Junior
Electrocutionist (injured, due back soon)
Irridescence
Rail Link
Shawanda (injured)
Darsi (injured)
Gentlewave (injured)
Hala Bek (injured but about to resume training)
Scorpion (injured in May... )
Zenno Rob Roy
Best Name
Cherry Mix
Linda's Lad
Septimus
Ace (believe he's pointed elsewhere)
Collier Hill (pointed elsewhere)
Day Flight
Hard Top
Mountain High
The Geezer
Vison Celebr
Walk In The Park

Oh yeah I completely forgot about the defending BC turf champ!!! I figured Electrocutionist would not be there because he was hurt and because I thought he was pointing towards the BC Classic. I also doubt if Ouija Board actually runs in it. If for some reason those two do show up......damn what a race.

Sixties Icon is now pointed....

God, the above post is sad.

Rail Link and Mandesha are now probable.....

Is Zenno Rob Roy still running?

No, he was retired.....

Just under three weeks to go until history is made...

Care to elaborate?

I'm assuming you mean Deep Impact..... is that right?

(Love DI but not my pick, for the record). :)

yep, you guessed it! Deep Impact

i think he is tremendous and has a real shot to be the first ever non euro to win. it won't be easy and it will be a stern test, but i love the story that it would be. i also applaud the Japanese for going over to take a shot. If they wanted to play it safe and just make money it would make more sense to have stayed in Japan because of the purses that he could have easily taken down over there.

oh yeah, i know that he wouldn't be your pick. and that pick would be...?
HR? Pride maybe?

I agree..

Deep Impact by 5+

Arc: Pride in good shape but no decision yet on Mandesha

by Desmond Stoneham
(Racing post)

PRIDE was on Monday reported to be in good form after her third in Sunday’s Prix Foy, but no decision has yet been reached about a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bid for her stablemate Mandesha (pic).

The Arc is still very much on the agenda for Pride after her effort behind Shirocco and Hurricane Run at the weekend, but Mandesha – who was quoted as low as 8-1 for the big race after her impressive win in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille on Sunday’s card – would need to be supplemented at a cost of €60,000 by her owner Princess Zahra Aga Khan.

Alain Royer-Dupre, who trains the pair, said on Monday: “Pride has come out of the race in very good form, but the ground was a bit fast for her on Sunday as she prefers to get her feet in.” “Mandesha did not have a hard race at all in the Vermeille and we now have the option of either the Prix de l’Opera or the Arc. We won’t decide yet whether she will be supplemented into the Arc and I wouldn’t want to run her if the ground came up testing. It is difficult for younger horses to show their best on such a surface, but older ones like it.”
Pat Downes, racing manager for the Aga Khan, confirmed that if Mandesha does run in the Arc, retained jockey Christophe Soumillon would be required to ride her, meaning the mount on leading contender Shirocco would be up for grabs.

Downes said: “We were delighted
“There is no decision yet on whether she will be supplemented for the Arc. We'll take a few days to see how she is and think about it. If she were to run in the Arc, Christophe would be riding her.”

Not sure yet, although I'll always have a soft spot for Pride.:)

* * *

Sir Percy update.....
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...355367,00.html

Deep Impact wins this for fun. The fact that they took the extra effort to bring over his food AND water from Japan... that says something. This horse is a monster. I can hardly wait!

from one of the top racingpost writers, James Willoughby

IN THREE weeks' time, the distance between the start and the finish at Longchamp will be bridged by an explosion of equine talent. In prospect is a highly charged line-up that could spark one of the great middle-distance races of recent times.
That is the thought that flows from the Arc trials at Longchamp yesterday, when the key players came through their final test before Europe's greatest race. Perfectly primed for the arrival of the Japanese superstar Deep Impact are two horses who themselves are on the verge of a world championship.
Yesterday's clash between Hurricane Run and Shirocco promised to be something special in the Prix Foy. But with the anticipation came the uneasy feeling that here were two horses with the same trainer in what was only a trial.
In the event, neither was fully extended. But the point at which they were unleashed at the top of the straight still provided one of those moments that is normally the reserve of hypothesis: like an argument about which of two superlatives conveys the stronger meaning.
Yesterday, the Andre Fabretrained pair were only sparring. The fact that third-placed Pride closed down on them was partly down to the fact that neither Christophe Soumillon, on the winner, nor Kieren Fallon, on the runner-up, was inclined to go for everything. It should also be remembered that sectionals show Pride has a wicked turn of foot off the kind of steady pace that prevailed in the Foy, while the other two are much stronger stayers.
AFTER Fallon's exceptionally heady ride on Dylan Thomas in the Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday, it is tempting to think that nothing is outside his powers. He kept his hands firmly on Hurricane Run's neck throughout the closing stages, leaving the impression that reversing the form with Shirocco will be readily achieved in the Arc. The problem is that so too was his rival at less than full throttle.
The remarkable thing about racehorses is that even at 99 per cent of the energy levels they would expend at championship pace, their respective merits cannot be judged definitively. With two human athletes, we could see on their faces and interpret from their body language the extent to which the winner was the superior. With horses, the same level of information is just not possible.
The chances are that the better of the two in the Arc will be the one who has the better preparation, feels the better on the day and gets the trip better. If it is Hurricane Run, everyone will say it was obvious that he was only out for a run in the Foy' if it is Shirocco, then they will say he had been idling in front.
How about the real truth? Any clash between these two depends on circumstance and will never provide a final answer.
If Hurricane Run and Shirocco are maybe the best two horses on the planet, it is only maybe because of Deep Impact. People question the strengths of the fields which he has beaten in the East, but this is far less important than the impression he creates at the speed we know that he is running' the fact is that horses capable of middle-moves on the bridle while travelling at around 40mph come along once every Sea-Bird and Ribot.
Seeing a horse to even touch this Godlike pair is the dream of anyone who has ever became entangled with the sport at a spiritual level. People talk about great races like that between Ouija Board and Alexander Goldrun as elevating because of the excitement engendered by the uncertain outcome and the unworldly effort expended by the combatants towards an aim that means less to them than us.
There is, however, something beyond that. There is the chance to see a horse who does not depend on being perceived as a 'trier' to gain admirers' who will be talked about as long as the sport' who can do something like Dancing Brave did to an extremely strong field in the 1986 Arc.
We don't know for sure that we will ever see anything to quite match that, but every now and then it seems that the circumstances are coming together. Now is that time.
Horses come along and win the Arc in spectacular style around once a decade, but they are often not lucky enough to have a rival of similar talent with which to define them. The point about this year's race is that three horses will take the field who have proven talent to put a 130 up on the board, and there are a couple more bubbling under who may just do the same.
In other years, a colt like the Prix Niel winner Rail Link would be sitting on top of the ante-post market with nobody saying he didn't deserve to be there. He came through his trial in similar style to many previous Arc winners of his age group, giving the same impression he would thrive in the more heated environment of a championship race. But there he is at around 8-1, freely available for anyone to take this morning, and the chances are he will still be the same price this afternoon.
THEN there is Mandesha, nothing short of brilliant in the Vermeille, now a Group 1 winner at both 1m and a 1m4f. Are we missing something here? Her connections say they want to look at the sectional times before committing the filly. They will not be disappointed.
The three Arc trials were run at similar tempo, with the exception of a mid-race lull in the Foy in which the principals fell around a second and a half behind the Vermeille and the Niel. Yet Mandesha's single-furlong acceleration was probably the best of the day until she tired a bit and was eased close home. It is just that she has nothing like the same improvement in her as Hurricane Run, Shirocco or Rail Link.
There are three weeks to go before the Arc, and injuries could crop up or heavy ground could arrive to spoil the integrity of the test. All things being well, however, an extraordinary array of middle-distance talent will come together on October 1.

youmzain
might be
supplemented.

Sixties Icon to be supplemented.....

On Ouija Board.....

http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/n...ING_Board.html

this changes
everything.

deep impact is down to 3-1 on sky bet. he's the co-second choice w/ shirocco. hurricane run is still 5-2.

I'm waiting on Percy.

I dont care how good Hurricane Run and Shirocco are,
nothing is going to beat Deep Impact.
this is a Phar Lap type of event.

Repent

I'm with you on this one. I can't wait.

me too. been waiting for this one a long time. i hope he runs his race. if he does, i believe he will be the arc champion.

i am pulling for him and hope he wins it would be so great. It may be just my heart telling me this because when i consider the class he'll face next week compared to what he faced in Japan, well there is no comparision. On the other hand he won those races in Japan in style.

There is just something about him that seems special.

see,
Im not sure I agree with that.

there is no doubt it will be his toughest challenge yet, but I dont think its incomparable as you suggest.

Japan has a high class racing operation.
this has been shown time and again.

its not like he is coming from South American or even North America.
Japan is the 2nd highest level of turf racing in the world.
now he has to go to where the highest level of racing in the world is, and I think he will do fine.

Repent

Nice win yesterday.....

Injured and out..... sorry.

* * * * *

Much as i love Pride and quite a few in this, I'm thinking Sixties Icon has a serious shot.....

Not my pick... not yet, anyway.

No non-european has ever won this race. period.
It will be quite a feat in my estimation should he win.

it's high time someone did. and deep impact is the one.

of course.
:)

here's arc
news;
http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/n...ACING_Arc.html

On PRIDE..... :cool:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai...7/shhots27.xml

... and from Sporting Life...

"Fabre concerned by lack of pace"

http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/n...Arc_Fabre.html

ready...set...


IMPACT IMPRESSES
By Nick Robson, PA Sport



Japanese superstar Deep Impact has completed his preparations for Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with a gallop at Chantilly racecourse.

The subject of considerable market support in recent days, he covered six furlongs with two work companions.

The four-year-old was partnered by big-race jockey Yutaka Take and completed the final four furlongs in 50 seconds and the final furlong in 12 seconds to prove his well-being.

Speaking at a press conference following the gallop, trainer

Yasuo Ikee said: "I didn't give any instructions to Yutaka today. I am quite satisfied with Deep Impact's final preparations.

"He is in very good shape. All the staff, including myself, were very pleased to hear Yutaka say that he got a very good response from Deep Impact today.

"We will do our best from now until the race day to make him 100% fit for the race. I am not too concerned about his draw and as representatives of Japan, we really want to win."

Take was similarly impressed and once again stated his intention to become the first non-European based jockey to win the Arc.

"The other two horses went off first and I followed behind," said Take. "Although I didn't use a whip, Deep Impact went two lengths clear of the others. I think this is the best work he's done since arriving here.

"We want to gain the honour of being the first horse and the first jockey outside Europe to win the Arc de Triomphe.

"I know that this is the hardest race to win in the world, so I want to be victorious. I believe that Deep Impact is a world-class horse and I will ride in the race with that belief.

"I won't talk about his draw because if I say what I wish for, it probably won't come true! I would rather it didn't rain before the race.

"I've received a lot of encouragement from so many people back in Japan. I want to win the Arc and make their dream come true.

"If he wins this race, he will be recognised the best horse in the world and I sincerely hope to make him the best in the world."

Deep Impact, who has been beaten just once in 11 starts, is the clear 5-2 favourite with Coral for Sunday's showpiece.

http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/n..._Mandesha.html

mandesha is
out and
entered in
the prix de
l'opera instead
where she
again
has no chance.

Too long to post. Here are the runners for Saturday.....
http://www.prixarcdetriomphe.com/R_Sa.htm

... and for Sunday.
http://www.prixarcdetriomphe.com/R_Di.htm

Love them all but I've said Pride all year so I'm sticking with her. (If she scratches for some reason... Sixties Icon).

Come home safe, all of you.