“There’s only one Frankie,” Anthony Oppenheimer said after the Prix Niel here on Sunday. “And there’s only one Arc,” a reporter pointed out, an exchange which neatly summarised the uncertainty surrounding Oppenheimer’s colt Cracksman, and whether he will be in Newmarket or France on the first Sunday in October.
Cracksman was a convincing winner of the Niel, one of the main trials for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and would probably start second-favourite at around 5-1 were he to line up in three weeks’ time. His position in the market was also strengthened later in the day when Satono Diamond, Japan’s big hope for this year’s race and the 10-1 third-favourite, ran a dismal trial in the Prix Foy, finishing fourth of the six runners.
Oppenheimer, though, feels that the rider on top is as important as the horse underneath. With Frankie Dettori, Cracksman’s regular jockey, all but certain to ride Enable, the even-money favourite, Oppenheimer feels that a run in the Arc might be better postponed until 2018.
Many racing fans will struggle to understand the question here, never mind the answer. Cracksman is an improving, top-class three-year-old colt with form in the book that makes him a serious contender for the Arc. Next year he will give weight to the three-year-olds, and anyway, who knows what might happen in the next 12 months?
Oppenheimer, though, insists that he is taking a long-term view. “Whether we run him in the Arc or the Champion Stakes [at Ascot in October], we’d prefer to put him away without giving him a hard race this year,” he said. “We think if we give him a hard race this year, it might take the sting off him next year.
“That’s the gamble, do you keep this horse as a four-year-old, knowing everyone says he will be much better next year, or do you take a run in the Arc and get second or third and have a hard race without his [usual] jockey, because he will almost certainly be on Enable.”
Oppenheimer also suggested John Gosden, who trains both Enable and Cracksman, will make the final decision, though few owners would not want a significant say in the outcome. “I think he might [wait until a few days before the race],” he said. “If Enable were not able to run for some reason, then it might change his plans.”
Cracksman’s price for the Arc ranges from 5-1 to 10-1 as a result of the uncertainty over his place in the field, while Dshingis Secret, who was a ready winner of the Prix Foy, can be backed at around 16-1 to follow up in three weeks’ time.
With Cracksman clearly a doubtful runner in the big race, though, one of the more significant potential trials for the Arc came in Ireland, where Order Of St George, third home behind Found last season, was an easy winner of the Group One Irish St Leger.
Order Of St George finished fast but too late in the same race 12 months ago, and Ryan Moore took no chances this time as he sent Order Of St George to the front at the top of the long home straight.
The five-year-old was cut to around 12-1 for this year’s Arc, though he is also the 6-4 favourite with Hills for the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day.
Order of St George was Aidan O’Brien’s third Group One winner on Champions Weekend in Ireland, following Happily’s success in the Moyglare Stud Stakes earlier on the card. He missed out in the National Stakes, however, where Gustav Klimt, the likely favourite, was a late scratch and his three remaining contenders finished well beaten behind Jim Bolger’s Verbal Dexterity.O’Brien now has 17 Group One winners this year, but Hills eased him slightly, from 7-4 to 2-1, to beat Bobby Frankel’s long-standing record of 25 wins at the highest level in a season.
Bolger has won the Dewhurst Stakes, Britain’s most prestigious two-year-old contest, five times in the past and feels that Verbal Dexterity is a worthy contender to make it six.
“I can see him being champion European two-year-old, he’s the real deal, as good as any of the two-year-olds I’ve had,” Bolger said. “He needs the seven [furlongs], even though he has plenty of toe. Seven or a mile is his real cut. He handles any ground. He has a marvellous temperament, great looks. He has everything and is the complete package.
“He’s as good as any of the ones that have won the Dewhurst for us, any of those five. I would think he’ll go for the Dewhurst next.”
Ribchester was the other big winner on the Chantilly card as he made up for a shock defeat on soft ground in the Sussex Stakes last time out with success in the Prix du Moulin.
Richard Fahey’s colt could now run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day but is also be lined up for a crack at the Breeders’ Cup Mile in California just two weeks later.
Monday’s tips, by Greg Wood
Brighton 2.25 Montemiata 2.55 Sarstedt (nb) 3.25 Field Of Vision (nap) 3.55 Send Up 4.25 Oden 4.55 Luxford 5.25 World Record
Perth 2.05 Strait Of Magellan 2.35 Johnny Go 3.05 Pikarnia 3.35 Theo 4.05 Pads 4.35 The Clock Leary 5.05 Buy Mistake
Newton Abbot 2.15 Vancouver 2.45 Third Act 3.15 Catcher On The Go 3.45 Kapricorne 4.15 Quadriller 4.45 Pension Madness
