PRIX DE L'ARC DE TRIOMPHE REPORT:PERFECTION MAY indeed be a road, not a destination, but it is hard to imagine where else Sea The Stars has left to go after a sensational Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory yesterday that has guaranteed him a singular place among racing's all-time greats.
The horse with the perfect pedigree, perfect looks and temperament, combined with the most perfect combination of speed and stamina imaginable, completed a perfect six out of six Group One season in a style that had the Longchamp crowd scratching their heads for a comparison.
The ghosts of Ribot, Sea Bird and Mill Reef were conjured in the attempt and somehow failed to come up to the mark. Other names like Dancing Brave and Nijinsky seemed inadequate too. No horse had ever before won the 2,000 Guineas in May, the Epsom Derby in June and then managed to maintain their brilliance to Paris in October and land the Arc.
But Sea The Stars didn’t just maintain the standards that had him already being mentioned among the cream of thoroughbred racing throughout the season: Instead he embellished an already awe-inspiring reputation with a performance of such dominance that the massive crowds marching home down the Bois de Bologone last night must still have been shaking their heads in wonder.
Certainly a racing public left in no doubt about Sea The Stars’ brilliance throughout 2009 also found out yesterday that the great horse also has the ability common to all champions of being able to carve out victory from unpromising circumstances.
A lot that could have gone wrong yesterday did go wrong. Almost breaking too well from the stalls, Mick Kinane had to fight to settle Sea The Stars who was set alight by a pacemaker rushing to the front to help set a tempo that the rest of the field chose to ignore.
Normally the determination with which Sea The Stars fought his jockey in the early stages would leave little or nothing for the finish. What normally wouldn’t help either, was losing a couple of positions and ending up being stuck on the rail with an 18-strong opposition determined to keep you there. But normal was a redundant word yesterday.
Conjuring a truly remarkable burst of speed, Sea The Stars and Kinane sliced through the cream of Europe’s racehorses in less than a furlong up the straight to find himself in front with a furlong to go. In a startling display of dominance, the Irish superstar burst clear without his jockey even having to exert maximum pressure.
In behind the veteran six-year-old Youmzain ran on well under Kieren Fallon to finish runner-up for the third year running while Cavalryman was third for Godolphin with Conduit fourth. Sea The Stars’ old rival, Fame And Glory, faded to sixth.
But even among the opposition there was acknowledgement that the 2009 was only about one horse and one that is truly now a benchmark figure for the future in terms of sporting excellence.
“A great horse,” summed up Fame And Glory’s trainer Aidan O’Brien while John Gosden, trainer of the fifth, Dar Re Mi, said: “Sea The Stars is a champion of champions and it was just great to be part of it all.”
John Oxx himself admitted to pre-race jitters but also revealed how he believed Sea The Stars was still improving. “As you get closer to the race you start to think of all the great horses who came here after good seasons and haven’t done it,” he said.
“But his physical condition is getting better. He seems to be getting stronger and we were hoping he was still improving.”
Sea The Stars is likely to be retired at the end of this season and the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface is the sole option left open for the superstar colt. Normally a graveyard for champion European horses at the end of a long season, Oxx could be wary of travelling to Los Angeles next month. But with this horse, normal criteria don’t apply.
The Aga Khan had a fantastic Group One four-timer, including Oxx’s Alandi in the Prix du Cadran.
