Looked to me like there were only 2 Grade 1 animals in the Arc there - miles clear of the rest. It will be interesting to see what the jockeys say about the ground, I thought Minnie Hauk was home and hosed but just got nabbed in a dour last half furlong.
Another stat for Barney. Long time since a horse finished second in the Arc and won it the following year
Well I never saw Daryz coming. His early season form would not have seen him as a serious contender but fair play to the trainer for getting him to peak at the right time. Listening to Graffard before the race I knew that Quisisana was very much the second string and that Daryz was the stable number 1. Probably why she drifted late on after seeing support yesterday. It was low numbers that dominated and I don't know why Sosie ended up so far off the pace from a good draw. He seemed to drop back badly in the early stages and stayed on for a never nearer 3rd. 1,2,3,5 draws filled the first four places. Aventure was bitterly disappointing and she drifted like a boat in the betting today. As for Kalpana she ran OK but probably hasn't come forward much this year. A lot more ran poorly than well today. Byzantine Dream ran well from box 15 and I think he can be proud of his effort albeit at a fair distance behind the first two. Probably would have been third if drawn lower. Minnie Hauk deserves a lot of credit having begun the season with a fairly modest rating and winning some ugly races before going on to progress into a serious contender for the Arc. She nearly pulled it off. Overall though, I think there was a fair amount of dross in this year's Arc and I have yet to see any 2yo who might develop into an Arc contender next season. I had to laugh at Johnnie Murtagh tipping up Aventure with the reasoning that she has strengthened up from two to three. Did they sneak her into the Arc as a 2YO then?
I guess that difference of opinion does make horse races. I have to disagree with you entirely. I do not think there were any Grade 1 animals in the race. The two three year olds that filled the first two places came into the race rated as very ordinary in what has been an ordinary year. Minnie Hauk beat an ordinary bunch of three year old fillies to win two Classics. I cannot have it that Daryz, the horse that ran so abysmally in the Juddmonte International, has suddenly become a top class performer by stepping up two furlongs on soft ground. Having seen the replay several times, I am still trying to figure out what the actual plan was for several of the fancied runners. Okay, so it rained during the running of the race but that has happened before. On very soft ground when the finishers in a race are widely spaced apart that is often more an indication of some getting stuck in the mud while others loved it.
For me Minnie Hauk is clearly a Group 1 horse - she has won 3 Oaks (all group 1) and finished 2nd in an Arc. This was the first time Daryz tried 12 furlongs and he is clearly very ground dependent. 10 furlongs on gd-fm at York clearly not his cup of tea. It will be interesting to see if he stays in training but if he does, I’m sure they will stay at 12 furlongs with some ease in the ground.
This is spot on. It’s remarkable that people are still crabbing what Minnie Hauk’s ability is. She’s an excellent horse who has shown herself on all types of ground. The front two pulled nicely clear of Sosie who is a good yardstick after last seasons Arc. Daryz has beaten her, but that’s to Daryz credit, he relished the ground and we don’t know how good he is. Both should be given plenty of credit and not crabbed. Will we see either next season? If so, that will be the key time to understand their level of ability.
I prefer facts myself. In the top ten rated horses in the world there are only three members of the Classic generation: Field Of Gold and Sovereignty (127) plus Delacroix (126). Derby winner Lambourn is rated 120 behind deceased Guineas winner Ruling Court (121). Minnie Hauk went into the Arc rated 118. Since Epsom, how many races have the nine runners won? (Minnie Hauk 2 of 3, Whirl 2 of 3, Desert Flower 0 of 0, Wemightakedlongway 0 of 3, Giselle 0 of 0, Revoir 0 of 4, Elwateen 0 of 2, Qilin Queen 1 of 3, Go Go Boots 0 of 2) In the Irish Oaks, four of the seven runners came from Ballydoyle and Minnie Hauk beat second favourite Wemightakedlongway and it was 20/1 bar two. In the Yorkshire Oaks she beat three rivals – one her pacemaker, Qilin Queen was a remote last and runner up Estrange declined Sunday’s rematch. That saw her rating upped by 1lb from her Epsom 117 mark. Daryz has five career victories, four at Longchamp: three at ten furlongs – a maiden, a five runner conditions race and a five runner Listed race – plus Sunday. He also beat Bay City Roller three quarters of a length in the six runner Prix Eugene Adam at Saint Cloud. Sosie was more than four lengths fourth in the 2024 Arc off a rating of 118. This year he won the six runner Prix Ganay and six runner Prix d’Ispahan over ten furlongs, was last in the Eclipse after trying to make all and was second in the Prix Foy before starting the Arc off a rating of 120. So he was only beaten a length further than last year off a 2lb higher rating. Only five of the horses that started on Sunday appear in the top 40 rated horses in the world: Los Angeles on 123 (joint thirteenth in the world) was highest rated. Will either of them stay in training or run again this year? Frankel filly Minnie Hauk will probably head to the paddocks as a Classic winner. Sea The Stars colt Daryz is out of Daryakana, her seventh foal to see a racecourse; and has only had seven starts. Last year’s Arc winner Bluestocking, winner of two Group 1 races from four contested that season before the big race, ended up with a rating of 122 for her victory. That would appear to indicate that last year’s race was not a brilliant renewal either. Millions of Euros of prize money cannot make up for a lack of high calibre horses to contest them.
