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The story
On the 4th, Europe’s premier Group 1 race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (turf, 2,400 meters), held at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, saw last year’s winner Daryz repeat as champion. Meishou Tabaru, ridden boldly from the front by Yutaka Take, finished 14th, while Admire Tera finished 11th — meaning Japan’s long-held dream of a first Arc victory will have to wait until next year or beyond. On 5ch, discussion flared between posters recalling the near-misses of Orfevre and Nakayama Festa (both runners-up in years past) who asked “Is there any point keeping at it when the track doesn’t suit Japanese horses?” and others arguing “You only get stronger by challenging yourself.”
Europe’s top race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1, turf 2,400 meters, 16 runners), was held on the 4th at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France.
Two Japanese horses took part, but the long-sought breakthrough didn’t come. The first Japanese win will have to wait until next year or later.
Meishou Tabaru (Kuri stable, trainer Ishibashi, 5-year-old colt), ridden by Yutaka Take (57, Kuri/freelance), boldly dashed to the front and set the pace for the field at his own speed.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
These days it's entries driven by betting sales. The racing association is basically begging the top stables to send their horses. The Arc has a good race time slot, so it sells a ton of tickets no matter what.
Doesn't it multiply the horse's stud value once it retires?
If you keep making excuses about the track not suiting you instead of ever winning, you'll never improve.
Japanese racing has risen to a world-class level precisely because they kept challenging themselves.
Looking down on the Arc and European racing for some 'moral victory' without ever actually winning is what washed-up losers do.
He only won because of interference from that veering.
The difference in finishing speed is just too big lol
Forever Young probably would've won the Arc outright, but if a dirt horse actually won it, that would be a massive embarrassment for the JRA — so they'd never let that happen.
Nakayama Festa (too)
Orfevre finished second twice.
No way it survives air transport.
Recently, Through Seven Seas was well-suited to it.
That's exactly why horses that have run the Arc recently can still perform decently in their next race. Back in the day they went there to actually win, so there was all this talk about the toll of overseas travel — but now it's just a lap around Europe, basically an overseas vacation.
No chance — he doesn't have the finishing speed.
I get that, but then American dirt horses — from the home of dirt racing — don't even show up there, so maybe Longchamp just doesn't work that way. Still, I do wonder how Forever Young ("Eva-Yan") would've done.
If a horse with JRA earnings of just 7.2 million yen won the Arc, it'd get ripped apart even worse than El Condor Pasa did. Nobody wants that.
I don't think continuing to challenge European racing counts as 'progress' anymore — it's basically a different sport at this point. It's like making Ohtani drill soccer to win the World Cup, or having Kubo take a thousand fungoes (baseball infield practice) to win the WBC.
That analogy is way off lol
You mean Festa (Nakayama Festa).
It only survived by veering into others while running on fumes.
Even being generous, there's no way he wins the second one.
He'd get thrown off if he won twice in a row.
Wasn't he torn apart by Treve anyway?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The Arc de Triomphe has a long history of Japanese horses falling agonizingly short — El Condor Pasa finished second in 1999, Nakayama Festa was runner-up in 2010, and Orfevre finished second in both 2012 and 2013. This time, with Meishou Tabaru finishing 14th and Admire Tera 11th — both well off the pace — the thread split between voices saying “there’s no point even trying anymore” and others arguing “every challenge builds up Japanese racing’s strength.” Underlying the debate is the point that Longchamp’s light turf and grinding, attrition-heavy ground suit a different kind of horse than those raised on Japan’s fast tracks, and in recent years some see entries as being more about selling betting tickets or overseas campaigns than actually chasing prize money. There’s also persistent talk of sending dirt-suited horses like Forever Young, though there’s resistance to the idea of a dirt horse winning the JRA’s flagship overseas showcase race — meaning this isn’t a simple question of which horses are “strong enough.”
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Horse Racing] Arc de Triomphe: Daryz Wins Back-to-Back! Japan’s Meishou Tabaru (ridden by Yutaka Take) Finishes 14th, Admire Tera 11th.”
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