RacingBetter News
Wednesday 6th October 2021
   
Torquator Tasso Defies the Odds in Paris

Torquator Tasso romped home at 80/1 in the 2021 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s richest horse, at Parislongchamp.

The Marcel Weiss-trained colt was produced late by Rene Piechulek to emulate compatriots Danedream in 2011 and Star Appeal in 1975.

It is true that the heavy going blunted the finishing speed of some of his more illustrious rivals, most notably Tarnawa, but the Arc is always likely throw up a surprise winner as long as it is run in October, when there is a good chance of very soft turf.

If you backed the rank outsider at these prices then you did well, but normally you’d have a much better chance of winning at NeonVegas Casino with live casino games and bonuses to keep you on the edge of your seat.

France Galop's tracking system revealed that Torquator Tasso covered more ground than any of his rivals, even though the German raider clocked the fastest final furlong in the race at 12.44 seconds.

Notably, the 2012 renewal of the race was won by Carlos Laffon-Parias's four-year-old Solemia who was also a big outsider who excelled in the testing conditions.

Both races were run on ground officially described as "heavy", but race times suggested that Sunday wasn't as testing as it had been nine years earlier.

Triumphant trainer Weiss, a former assistant to Jens Hershberger, is in just his second year with a licence.

He trains 50 kilometres from Mulheim and is a private trainer for owner Gestut Auenquelle.

Weiss said: “That was beautiful. He’s a very nice horse, he’s all heart.

“He’s a very strong horse. That was amazing.

“Rene is a very cool jockey, very cool. It was his first ride in the race.”

“It’s very hard to digest and put into words how I feel, but our plan was hatched last winter.

“I felt he deserved to go for it and my hopes rose when the ground came in our favour.

“We planned to chase the leading horses and launch our challenge wide into the straight. It’s a long straight and we knew he would finish strongly.

“I had 20 years as an assistant before taking the reins two years ago and I’m so pleased the owner turned down an offer for the horse.

“He could go to Japan, but let’s get him back and see how he is in the next week or so.”

Reflecting further, Weiss said: “It’s very, very difficult to understand I’ve won this race.

“Before the Arc, he’s produced some very good performances – he’s a dual Group One winner and a Group Two winner already. Even though I thought this was the strongest Arc of the last few years, we thought he deserved to run.

“We would have been very happy if he’d finished third, fourth, fifth or sixth – we would have considered that a success.

“The race itself went as we wanted. We wanted him to challenge on the outside, and launch himself in the straight. That he has won is a bonus.

“I’m just so happy I got to train a horse like Torquator Tasso, who was already a star in Germany. His owners refused an offer that was made, so I’m delighted to have him in my yard.

“You can’t really go higher than the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – I’ve dreamt about it, and now I’ve won it. It’s absolutely unreal.”

Piechulek said: “I think it will be only tomorrow that I realise what it really means to win this race.

“I wanted to be in position, when we got into the final straight, to really launch my horse – because he really quickens and gets faster the longer the straight is.

“I know the horse and am thankful the owner trusted me to ride him, even though I had never ridden in the Arc before.

“When I got out of the stalls there wasn’t a lot of pace. I tried to get as close to the leading horses as possible.”

“It was a memorable result for the bookmakers,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

“It was one of the most open Arcs from a betting point of view we can remember, with Adayar and Tarnawa vying for favouritism all week.

“Then today there was a big move for Hurricane Lane and all the soft-ground horses were being backed – but the one horse nobody was backing was the German horse.

“The 100th running of the Arc will be one that bookmakers will remember for a long, long time.

“He had all the fancied horses in behind him so it was hard to think it was a fluke. He won on merit.

“It was a brilliant race and turnover was fantastic because it was so open.”

horse racing