ASCOT, ENGLAND // Cirrus Des Aigles has endured his share of troughs but everything is in place here for the eight-year-old warrior to reach the latest peak in his extraordinary career on Saturday night.
Cirrus Des Aigles was disqualified two weeks ago in the Prix Dollar at Longchamp, having passed the post first, but bids to make good that loss by returning to this corner of Berkshire to contest the Champion Stakes for the fourth time.
He won the inaugural Champion Stakes at Ascot in 2011 and has chased home Frankel and Godolphin’s Farhh in the £1.3 million (Dh7.7m) event for the past two seasons.
Christophe Soumillon was in the saddle for those three races and will once again take the reins.
Rain has fallen for much of the week in England, and the going description is almost certain to have the word “heavy” in it.
“It is good for us that it has been raining as he knows how to swim,” trainer Corine Barande-Barbe said. “He doesn’t need heavy ground – look at his wins in the Dubai Sheema Classic, in the Champion Stakes in 2011 and against Flintshire in the Coronation Cup in June. It is just that other horses are generally not as good on it.”
One horse who will also relish the rain-softened going is Noble Mission, Frankel’s brother, who has collected two wins at the highest level this season. Another is Ruler Of the World, the 2013 English Derby winner, and Perther’s Moon, who was supplemented by trainer Richard Hannon.
With Pat Smullen, jockey to Irish raider Free Eagle, said his mount is the best he has ever ridden, this Group 1 will be not be easily won.
Cirrus Des Aigles’s exploits are followed around the world as he has raced not only in France and England, but Hong Kong, Japan and Dubai. The French public, however, have a special place in their hearts for him and Barande-Barbe has revealed that she feels like she is married to Barack Obama, such is the interest in her stable star.
His loss at Longchamp made the front page of Paris Turf on Arc day, and he was again the subject of a double-page spread in the French racing daily on Wednesday. His 4,500 followers on Facebook were updated on Friday morning with a video of him leaving Barande-Barbe’s Chantilly stable for Ascot.
There are some who speculate that the whole adventure could well be at an end after Saturday night’s race, but Barande-Barbe has said that if Cirrus Des Aigles arrives in Chantilly in good shape late on Saturday, whatever the result, a third crack at the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan Racecourse in March might be in the offing.
“When he wants to divorce, we will separate. We have very small brains and we forget about age,” she said.
“He loves Dubai. In the morning the light is fantastic and he walks there like he is the prince of the desert. If he is in good condition after this race, he will follow the same programme as this year.”
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