That was to be my first visit to the Arc to see Mill Reef; but for some reason I couldn't go. 40 years later I went to my first Arc. Then 4 years later to my next (and hopefully not my last)
Henrythenavigator was stuffed on soft ground too over in France, so even he wasn't all that versatile when it came to ground. Though he was undoubtebly a class act on fast ground, and worthy of a much higher rating than he got. Also HTNs 2nd place in the Classic was largely down to it being on a synthetic surface that year, a more reliable surface for turf horses to run on. He'd of probably run like a donkey too had he been asked to go on dirt. It's just not a surface that suits turf horses
Seconded. And jumping wasn't bad either: Persian War's eclipse by Bula in the CH and the GC of L'Escargot. Then lots of other good horses like The Dikler, Pendil and Crisp.
