Japan has the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe firmly on his agenda, after an exploratory trip here resulted in victory in the Grand Prix de Paris. Seizing such an important French prize on Bastille Day should arguably have made him terribly unpopular but this good-looking colt only added to his fan club with this, his first Group One success, but surely not his last.
Aidan O’Brien, the winning trainer, neatly sidestepped the question when asked if this performance amounted to proof that Japan is the best of his generation. But the betting market is prepared to consider it, as he was widely cut to 9-1 for the Arc, having been 16-1 on Sunday morning.
Japan’s progress in the last two months since he was fourth in the Dante, is the more impressive because of the setback he suffered in the spring.
“He had a slight little thing,” O’Brien said. “He had a temperature very early and we had to ease off him for three weeks. That delayed us. We thought he wasn’t going to make a run before the Derby but he ran in the Dante and he was really babyish at the time. We haven’t forced him to do it.”
Ayr 1.35 Alix James 2.05 Tomily 2.40 Cliff Bay 3.10 Be Proud 3.40 Inner Circle 4.10 Club Wexford 4.40 Outside Inside 5.10 Arms Of The Angel
Ripon 2.20 Precocity 2.50 Infinite Grace 3.20 Diamonique 3.50 Arecibo (nap) 4.20 Conundrum 4.50 Country 5.20 Myklachi
Windsor 5.30 Cafe Sydney 6.00 Fleeting Prince 6.30 Cool Sphere 7.00 Plunger (nb) 7.30 Jumira Bridge 8.00 Sendeed 8.30 Hats Off To Larry
Wolverhampton 5.40 Robeam 6.10 Milltown Star 6.40 Mendoza 7.10 Maiden Navigator 7.40 Global Destination 8.10 Allux Boy
8.40 Starkers
There will still be doubters, who can point to the fact that the runner-up here, Slalom, blew the start and was beaten only half a length in the end. O’Brien feels, however, that his horse could have done much more if seriously pressed.
“We were very happy with him,” the trainer said. “He’s a horse that always, when he got to the front, he didn’t do much. He never wins very far. He probably won further than usual in Ascot because they went very fast and the field came back to him.
“The lads [Coolmore, owners of Japan] will decide what they want to do but we were thinking we would give him a little break. Through the whole year, we’ve been rushing him. We rushed him to the Dante, then the Derby, then he came to Ascot. So, a little break and then either the Irish Champion or the Prix Niel here. Hopefully he comes out of today well and he’ll be something to look forward to.”
O’Brien and the winning jockey, Ryan Moore, were completing a Group One double over the weekend, having won the July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday with Ten Sovereigns. They completed the same cross-channel double last year with U S Navy Flag and Kew Gardens.
The winnerless fortnight endured by Moore, which ended only on Friday, is now a distant memory. The jockey had another minor winner later on this card and was arguably robbed of a treble, as he was beaten just a nose on Marmelo in the Prix Maurice de Nieuil after suffering interference. However, the stewards declined to alter the result and left the French-trained Way To Paris as the winner.
