Byzantine Dream

Is there an adequate Japanese proverb that conveys the nation's unflinching endeavour to win the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe? Perhaps "Ishi no ue ni mo san nen", to sit patiently on a cold stone for three years which relates to the power of perseverance, or "Nana korobi ya oki", to fall seven times and get up eight, or "Mateba kairo no hiyori ari". The latter points to waiting out the unpredictable to choose the right route and ultimately prevail. Since the country's first real go in 1999...

Trainer Takashi Saito is eager to use the experience of an unsuccessful Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe bid as he puts the finishing touches to Croix Du Nord's preparation for Sunday's ParisLongchamp showpiece. Back in 2021, Saito saddled his first runner in the Arc in the shape of Chrono Genesis, a four-time Group 1 winner in her native Japan. At ParisLongchamp, however, she could manage only seventh in a race run on very soft ground, with the daughter of Bago tiring late on after more than three months on...

Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard fields a trio of runners in Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with Aga Khan homebred Daryz (Sea The Stars) to be ridden by Mickael Barzalona. The three-year-old colt has been stepped up gradually this season, with a win in the Listed Prix Ridgway in June followed by a success in the G2 Prix Eugene Adam at Saint-Cloud later that month. Unplaced in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York in August, the son of Daryakana (Selkirk) bounced back to be second in the G3...

Aidan O'Brien looks set to saddle Los Angeles (Camelot) and Minnie Hauk (Frankel) in Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp, with the latter expected to be supplemented later this week to join the current cast of 17 contenders for Europe's richest race. Minnie Hauk has enjoyed a faultless campaign so far and will make her first trip to France following three consecutive Group 1 wins in the Oaks at Epsom, Irish Oaks at the Curragh and Yorkshire Oaks at York. Coral make her the 4/1 joint-favourite...

Francis Graffard has had his horses on song from early spring, and anyone who felt that the trainer surely could not maintain such a good run of form is now being proved wrong. He is so far clear of Andre Fabre in the French trainers' table that a first champion title for Graffard is starting to look a mere formality.  As if to underline his dominance, the trainer secured two more Group 1 victories on Sunday. Goliath struck in the Grosser Preis von Baden - a first top-level win for...

An initial batch of 78 entries for the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe have been released by France Galop. One of the leading fancies is last year's runner-up, the Wertheimers' Aventure, by 2009 Arc hero Sea The Stars. The 4-year-old filly won the G3 Prix Allez France at ParisLongchamp in April. Other 2024 Arc runners are also back for more in 2025 G2 Mooresbridge Stakes hero and Arc third Los Angeles (Camelot) for the Coolmore partners, Arc fourth Sosie (Sea The Stars)--successful in the 2025 G1 Prix Ganay...

Last year's G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) runner-up Redentor made the breakthrough at the top level with a hard-fought victory in Sunday's Tenno Sho (Spring) at Kyoto, producing a gutsy performance to justify favouritism in the hands of Damian Lane. Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, of Equinox fame, Redentor raced in a share of sixth position as the 15 runners went by the winning post for the first time in this 3,200-metre contest, with longshot Jean Kazuma taking the field along at just a modest gallop. Angled to the outside...

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Japanese-trained runners dominated the Saudi Cup meeting, landing the big race itself and a clean sweep of the turf races, while peppering results elsewhere on the card with placed finishers.  A little sprinkling of European spice was added to the mix in the French breeding of the G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup winner Shin Emperor (Fr), whose heritage is shared by Christophe Lemaire, rider of the G2 1351 Turf Sprint winner Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) but now just as much a son of...