Incroyable. Extraordinaire. Magnifique.
Those were some the adjectives that reverberated around Longchamp following Treve’s success in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on Sunday.
At the post, Treve and her regular jockey Thierry Jarnet were clear by four-and-a-half lengths from Candarliya.
It was Treve’s third straight win after her second victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, the Prix Corrida in May and the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in June. An unprecedented third win in the Arc next month looks probable.
The last five year old to win the Arc was Godolphin’s Marienbard in 2002, but statistics are surmountable hurdles for the great. Treve looks in a commanding position for her date with destiny on October 4, given she is clearly in the form of her life.
“Today she was exceptional,” trainer Criquette Head-Maarek said. “I have her back where she was at three, with the same will to win. Today, she ran like she ran in the Arc in 2013.”
Last year, Treve was struggling for fluency in races due to injuries, but she looked the picture of health and moved down to the start smoothly with her ears pricked.
She was just as balletic in the race, too. Once Jarnet pulled her out from the shadow of her pacemaker for a run into the straight, the win was never in doubt.
“I’ve never had a horse of that ability who can follow any pace and quicken like she does,” Head-Maarek said. “She makes me look good.”
Among Treve’s rivals in three weeks will be New Bay, who won the Prix Niel on the card, and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s Postponed after the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner took the Prix Foy later on in the afternoon.
Postponed had not raced since edging the British mid-summer highlight at Ascot in July, but on rain-softened ground that had resulted in a raft of runners being scratched from the Prix du Moulin won by Ervedya, he stayed on well to beat Spiritjim. Dubai Sheema Classic winner Dolniya ran out of steam and finished fourth behind Baino Hope.
Out of the three Arc trial winners, Postponed clocked by far the fastest time at 2 minutes,32.88 seconds. Although the Prix Foy has historically proved to be the weakest of the three trials, trainer Luca Cumani can return to Paris in three weeks full of hope.
It was a huge fillip for jockey Andrea Atzeni after his mount, Simple Verse, was demoted from first place by the Doncaster stewards in the English St Leger on Saturday. It was a decision that connections suggested on Sunday they would appeal.
Dolniya was one of three World Cup night winners in action yesterday, with Sole Power the only one to enter the winners’ enclosure. The eight-year-old sprinter won the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh to record his first win on Irish soil for five years.
The globe-trotting gelding will now race in the Prix l’Abbaye on the same afternoon as the Arc, where he will face Move In Time, who won the Prix Du Petit Couvert at Longchamp.
Brown Panther, the Dubai Gold Cup winner, suffered a fatal injury in the Irish St Leger won by Order Of St George.
Brown Panther, who is part-owned by former England International footballer Michael Owen shattered a hind leg and could not be saved.
The seven year old won the staying race on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan in March by over three lengths and in all won 11 races including last year’s Irish St Leger.
A heart-broken Owen said in a statement on Sunday night: “It is the saddest day of my life. I was with him when he was born, shared an experience for seven years that will never be repeated and gave him his last kiss goodbye. What an honour to own and breed him. I love you Panther, life will not be the same without you.”
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