Gosden On Arc Weather Watch

Trainer John Gosden has admitted he would not be eager for his sophomore stars Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling) to take on two-time defending champion Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) on soft ground in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in two weeks’ time, and the conditioner said weather will help dictate where the Derby winners–Golden Horn, the Epsom Derby and Jack Hobbs the Irish version–show up next.

“I’ve never seen a horse skip through ground that soft like Treve did,” Gosden said. “To that extent, I would be wary if it’s soft ground [for the Arc]. Both hold entries in the [G1] Champion S. 13 days later and the way I look at it is they could run in the Arc and Breeders’ Cup, or the Champion S. We will just have to be on weather watch. If it does turn up heavy at Longchamp, it can mess up the race.”

“Both could go for the Arc, but if it turns up soft you won’t see Golden Horn there, while I would not be surprised if Jack Hobbs winds up in the Champion S.,” Gosden added. “There are many permutations. I will have a better idea this time next week when I have a more accurate long-range forecast, as it is hard to predict what the weather will be this far out.”

Both Golden Horn and Jack Hobbs won their intended Arc lead-up races, with Golden Horn victorious in the G1 Irish Champion S. Sept. 12 and Jack Hobbs taking the G3 September S. over the Kempton all-weather Sept. 5.