Sottsass lands Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Enable only sixth
Jean-Claude Rouget-trained son of Siyouni adds Longchamp feature to top-level Prix du Jockey Club and Prix Ganay victories
Sottsass (Siyouni) captured the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) in front of a nearly deserted Longchamp yesterday as Enable (Nathaniel) failed in her bid for an historic third victory, finishing sixth under Frankie Dettori.
In what was a messy running of Europe’s most prestigious race under conditions made all the more peculiar by Covid-19 restrictions, Persian King (Kingman) set only a modest pace on the lead as he tried to make his stamina stretch while runners bumped and rolled into each other on the sapping ground in the home straight, with Enable interfered with among others.
The stewards called an inquiry into the result after the runners passed the post, but the finishing positions remained unchanged.
However, Sottsass (4 c ex Starlet’s Sister by Galileo), who finished third behind Waldgeist (Galileo) and Enable in last year’s Arc, was superb as he picked up and surged to the lead in the final furlong and a half to take the prize by a neck from the fast-finishing In Swoop (Adlerflug).
Trainer Jean-Claude Rouget was winning the Arc for the first time and said: “We’ve worked all year for this. Our entire aim for 2020 was this and it’s not been easy with the changes to the calendar.
“We’ve never been able to do quite what we wanted with the horse. But these last few days I’ve really felt he was in top form.”
Enable, so brilliant in her three previous Arc runs, was blunted by the underfoot conditions as well as the interference and was never in a position to make a telling challenge.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Enable’s owner Khalid Abdullah said: “She just wasn’t able to go on the ground, really and truly. She’s had a good position, Frankie’s been happy with her but she just couldn’t pick up like we’d normally expect her to.
“We’ll see how she is when she gets back and talk to John (Gosden, trainer) and Prince Khalid and make a plan. There will be no decisions (on retirement) at this stage.”
With Aidan O’Brien forced to withdraw his Arc runners over concerns about contaminated feed, the pacemaking duties were up for grabs and it was Pierre-Charles Boudot who took the bull by the horns on Prix du Moulin (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Persian King, who was stepping up considerably in trip.
Enable sat poised in about fifth place with Sottsass positioned a place in front of her and towards the inside, where jockey Cristian Demuro could make use of the strip of fresh ground opened up for Sunday.
As the false rail disappeared, Sottsass made his move to chase down Persian King with Enable and Stradivarius (Sea The Stars) prominent on the outside. As the frontrunner drifted to his right, Sottsass moved left causing interference together with Gold Trip (Outstrip), who was edging right from the far outside of the field.
Despite the coming together, those impacted were simply outclassed by Sottsass as he surged clear in the colours of Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm.
A €340,000 purchase at Arqana in August 2017, Sottsass was winning for the sixth time in a 12-race career which has also yielded victories in last season’s Prix du Jockey Club (Gr 1, 2100m) and the Prix Ganay (Gr 1, 2100m) earlier this year.
Sottsass is the third foal out of the Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Starlet’s Sister. His half-sister Sistercharlie (Myboycharlie) is a Grade 1 winner in the US, while Starlet’s Sister herself is a sister to French Group 3 winner Leo’s Starlet.
Rouget was uncertain what the future may hold for Sottsass, with a 50 per cent share in the Siyouni colt reportedly sold to the Coolmore partners in January.
“I don’t know what is next,” he said. “The owners will discuss between them. I would like to see him make a good stallion as he’s such a good-looking horse.”