To be honest I feel really bitter about the whole race. Not so much the result, but how it was achieved. It will take a while to erase this from my memory unfortunately. I feel like I will never go to the Arc again after that
To be honest I feel really bitter about the whole race. Not so much the result, but how it was achieved. It will take a while to erase this from my memory unfortunately. I feel like I will never go to the Arc again after that
Me neither, what do you mean, Ron, "how it was achieved"? Noticed you finished with a . I am perplexed, which doesn't take too much to make me perplexed, to be honest. Where's my mask...........
Sorry OK 1. The laugh was me being silly. Nass said "What?" So I said it again 2. The how achieved was as referred to in my earlier post
I don't think Gosden will be best pleased with either of his jockeys. Agree with Benny that Guyon rode a shocker. He chose the wrong horse to follow (Enable) and didn't put his mount into the race. He was originally placed to follow Sottsass but then chose to switch around to follow Enable. the way that race was run I reckon a certain Mr Piggott could have won the race on half that field.
The race was like one of those computerised "Predictor Races" run in slow motion. Peslier never used Strad's stamina although Nass was right- the horse didn't handle the going. He didn't even stay on! Yes, you could say last year's Arc gave Sottsass a good chance, given that Enable has gone back a bit this year. Quality wise, probably the worst Arc I've seen-most of the field had lost far more races than they'd won. My gut feeling is that the Prix de L'Opera winner, Tarnawa, would have gone very close, if she'd been supplemented. Overall, the race reinforced my fading love affair with Flat Racing- too many mediocre Group Races with small fields dominated by 'Galileo' telling us the world is round! Thank God for National Hunt! Watching another Mullins' mare and great prospect, Shewearsitwell, hack up at Tipperary, gave me far more pleasure than that Arc fiasco. I suppose yesterday was just one of those days- just ask Liverpool and Man. Utd.
OK, Cyc. But what kind of a race is it .....won a Scot's Arse from a pack of Bird Seed- with the Red Cremona nowhere!
They only pay the winner Tam. As they say at the card table. "No post-mortems please." P.S. Nice to see back again mate.
Can you find a quiet beach for your sunbathing- or are your beaches crowded with virus zombies? Take care, Cyc. Speak with you again. Off out for some extra-curricular activity.
As I have stopped going to the races to all intents and purposes, I will not be threatening any boycott. If there had only been five or six runners like most other French Group 1s, nobody would be bothered that it turned into a farce. I disagree with the view that has been expressed in hindsight that Enable was not good enough all season. If Fabre gives one of his (e.g. Waldgeist) an easy preparation with one race in mind he is referred to as a master trainer. Gosden campaigned Enable with one race in mind. Circumstances went against her, which we just have to accept. It is quite possible that if the four Ballydoyle contenders had lined up one of them might have done the donkey work. We will never know. The only way to guarantee a pacemaker in the Arc field would be to pay to supplement such a horse (and risk incurring the wrath of the French authorities). Most years there is a maximum field and the field is balloted by lowest rated out first just like here, so some 80 rated handicapper is never going to get in to run with the choke out for a mile. Enable got to be the top performer for four seasons because nothing better came along. They are keeping Love in training next season but I would not touch her for next year’s race because she is unlikely to get good enough ground and if there is a decent three year old filly in 2021, she will dominate just as Enable did in 2017. The three year olds have been mediocre for the last three years, a sequence that surely will not continue (at least I hope not).
