 |
|
|
|
|
racing news |
| Tweet |
racing news / prix de l’arc de triomphe
/
Sea Moon Out to Fire Stoute Back Into the Limelight
05/10/12
The great Sir Michael Stoute had a fairly lean time of things last season and things this term have been only marginally better.
 |
However, in Sea Moon, the multi-classic winning trainer has a horse that a growing number of observers on Betfair believe could run very well indeed in Sunday’s eagerly anticipated feature event, the Group 1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, writes Elliot Slater.
The lightly raced son of Beat Hollow is a very smart performer on his day, as he showed last term when absolutely hacking up in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at York by eight lengths, before finishing an unlucky-in-running third to Masked Marvel in the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster, three weeks later.
Sent across to Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup Turf in November, the four-year-old did not look ideally suited by the sharp track but still ran a fine race to be second to St Nicholas Abbey, who he will meet again at Longchamp this weekend.
After battling back to beat the gallant Dandino by a nose on his seasonal reappearance at Goodwood in May, Sea Moon put up a fine display when slamming Melbourne Cup winner, Dunaden, by three-and-a-half lengths in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
He was then doing all his best work at the finish when staying on well into a closing fifth behind Danedream and Nathaniel in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes back at Ascot four weeks later.
With both the winner and runner-up absent from the Arc line-up, a big chance has opened up for Prince Khaled Abdullah’s colt, who has been rested since the mid-summer highlight and is reported to have been working very well indeed since returning to full training.
At current odds of 10/1 in the Prix De l'Arc de Triomphe betting, and in a race where he is likely to get the strong gallop he thrives on, Stoute’s big hope could well represent some of the best each-way value for money in the race.
