Sunday: 103rd Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is Evenly Matched

Sunday’s 103rd edition of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a Group 1 race which has topped the IFHA rankings five times in nine years, will showcase the very best the international racing scene has to offer with runners from France, Britain, Ireland, Germany and Japan.

Annexed last year by the French 3-y-old Ace Impact, now a stallion based in Normandy, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has a very open feel. Possible favorites include France’s Sosie and Look de Vega, plus Ireland’s Los Angeles or Japan’s Shin Emperor.

A great racing nation, Japan has yet to win the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Shin Emperor, bred in Normandy by the Écurie Monceaux, was acquired at the Deauville Arqana Yearling Sales specifically for this purpose. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi paid €2.1 million on behalf of his owner Susumu Fujita in order to acquire him. Shin Emperor is none other than the full brother of the 2020 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass!

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If Shin Emperor were to win on Sunday, it would represent a reversal of fortune, as past Japanese challengers have been bedevilled by bad luck in the past. Above all it would enable his dam, Starlet’s Sister (Galileo), to become the first broodmare to foal two winners of this great race!

Kazanari Yoshida (assistant to Yoshito Yahagi, the trainer of Shin Emperor)

“It’s difficult to put your finger on why we haven’t won this race yet despite Japan’s successful record in the world’s top races. I think it’s partly down to the ground. Testing conditions have certainly put the skids under the Japanese challenge in the past. Shin Emperor is a horse that doesn’t cause any problems during a race. A straight forward ride, he easily adapts easily to the different tactical scenarios that unfold during a race… Shin Emperor is the type of colt who genuinely needs a prep race prior to a major assignment. His run in Ireland [he was third in the Irish Champion Stakes] has really helped him to improve his fitness levels. The plan we have mapped out for him is going as expected. We’re in a positive frame of mind and our ambition remains that of winning the race.”

Look de Vega: out to tread in the hoofprints of Ace Impact?

Trained at Maisons-Laffitte by Carlos Lerner and his son Yann, Look de Vega, this year’s Qatar Prix du Jockey Club winner, will attempt to follow in the hoofprints of Ace Impact, the first colt to complete the Qatar Prix du Jockey-Club – Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe double in the same season since the distance of the former race was reduced to 2,100 meters.

The colt, who now carries the colors of Al Shaqab Racing (but owned in partnership with the Irish-based Ballylinch Stud, his breeders, the Écurie des Charmes, the Haras de la Morsanglière, Patrick Madar and the colt’s two trainers), suffered his first career defeat in the Arc prep, the Qatar Prix Niel, in which he could manage ‘only’ third. His position as antepost Arc favorite was therefore seriously undermined. Despite everything, both his trainers and Ronan Thomas, his jockey ever since the day the colt made his debut, have expressed confidence in ‘their’ horse.

Yann Lerner (the co-trainer of Look de Vega), Maisons-Laffitte (Yvelines)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

“Look de Vega had a summer break. During three weeks we left him alone so as to prepare him for the second half of the season. Then we cranked him up for his reappearance race, the Qatar Prix Niel, in mid-September. During the course of his break, the colt put on weight and which made sure that he gradually shed on a weekly basis. So come the Prix Niel [an Arc prep], he was still a long way off his optimum weight. However, after this race, which he needed, his weight has reduced significantly. In the wake of his final workout prior to the Arc, he’s now at his optimum weight.

I know that a lot of people were expecting him to win the ‘Niel. I understand that very well, and we have to deal with that. However, the important thing is the preparation aspect of the Arc itself. When we re-examine his race in the ‘Niel, we discern that he found making the running which isn’t his usual style of racing. Furthermore, his jockey respected his mount, which meant that he wasn’t subjected to a hard race. Looking back, I’m quite happy because we’ve been able to use this race as a workout of sorts.

France Galop has announced that the ground will be 3.8 [very soft on the penetrometer scale]. Although the ground will probably be a bit faster than that on account of the weather patterns…The ground isn’t a problem for Look de Vega. The ease in the ground should suit him. The ground should be perfect for us on Sunday.

The distance holds no terrors for me. We shouldn’t judge his ability to stay the trip on the basis of his effort in the ‘Niel, given that he wasn’t in peak condition when attempting 2,400 meters for the first time. He found himself making the running for the first time in his career, and Ronan Thomas can confirm that colt’s breathing patterns weren’t as they usually are, having been denied the chance of a breather at the critical part of the race. The pace in the Arc will be far more searching, and he has the tactical speed which enables him to adjust to whatever scenario unfolds in terms of the pace. So he should find himself in a far better place in terms of how the race unfolds. Furthermore, I think he’ll quicken in the same way over 2,400 meters as he does over 2,100 meters.”

Ronan Thomas (the jockey of Look de Vega)
Quote sourced from the France Galop press conference

“Look de Vega has a very good temperament and boasts quite an impressive physique. He’s grown even more during the summer. I think he stands between 1.67m and 1.68m [over 16.2 hands] tall… and he has the physical strength which enables him to bear all that weight! He’s a very straight forward ride, and in tune with his rider and this enables him to pick up or ease off the pace when asked. Yes, he’s a really straight forward type.

I had my first ride in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2020, and I went very close to victory on In Swoop. At the end of the day, we were a mere 50 centimeters ‘shy’ [of victory] at the line.

When you do this job, you get used to working with a wide variety of people, whether they’re owners or trainers, but whom you aren’t completely familiar with. Working alongside a friend such as Yann doesn’t change our way of working, but it’s a bit like the proverbial icing on the cake given that we’re so close and know each other so well. It provides for the personal touch emotionally. Being able to share victories and the good times together is a gift.”

Sosie and Aventure: the ‘Wertheimer’ challenge responds to the power of two
Following his victories in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris and the Group 2 Qatar Prix Niel, which was used as a prep race for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Sosie appeals as a leading contender. The 3-y-old colt is based at Chantilly with André Fabre, who is, quite simply, the record holder for the number [eight] of ‘Arc winners trained. Sosie is owned by the Wertheimer & Frère stable, whose name is very much synonymous with the Chanel fashion brand. The last victory of this stable in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was in 2012, and this following the triumph of the filly Solemia.

Jeremy Plonk has a horse-by-horse study at XpressBet.