It was a very different, distinctly brutalist Longchamp that last saw a colt go back-to-back in the Arc, and 48 years on from Alleged’s second victory in 1978 with Lester Piggott holding the reins, the uber-modernist new grandstand rose to acclaim its first legend here on Sunday as Daryz produced the same overwhelming turn of finishing speed down the straight that had carried him to victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 12 months ago. Daryz and Mickaël Barzalona did not hit the front until inside the final furlong, but they had been closing on Bay City Roller, who had disputed the lead for much of the way, to such effect from well over a furlong out that the result was in no real doubt. Oisin Murphy had worked wonders to get Bay City Roller into contention from stall 15, and likewise Christophe Soumillon, on Aidan O’Brien’s Diamond Necklace, who finished strongly into third from the widest draw of all.
But unlike some recent runnings of the Arc – Enable’s narrow defeat of Sea Of Class in 2018, for instance – there was no sense that swapping the draws might have changed the result. Daryz, quite simply, proved himself a class apart. I was confident but I was putting so much pressure on myself [before the race] and you can make yourself look a fool, so it is easier not to speak and not say anything.
No horse has ever won the Arc three times and Daryz seems sure to be completing his first season as a stallion with the Aga Khan Studs when the racing clans gather again in Paris next year. He’s improved with age, that’s true, and the dam [Daryakana] did, but would we want him to train on for another year? I think he has other things to do.” In the likely absence of Daryz, it will be up to the beaten horses in Sunday’s race to represent the form in 12 months’ time, and George Scott’s Bay City Roller seems sure to be back next October after his fine run into second from out wide, on ground that was quicker than ideal.
He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he’s got all the talent and ability to go with it. Second in the Arc, but we need to go one better.” By then, Daryz will likely be completing his first covering season at stud, but if Sunday’s race was indeed his final flourish on the track, the sight of his first foals setting foot on a racecourse in 2030 will at least summon up memories of an outstanding colt and a special afternoon at Longchamp.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
