Aventure's win in Prix Vermeille fails to clear Arc de Triomphe picture

The results of the Arc trials on Sunday at Longchamp, as well as an upset Saturday in England, confirmed what appeared to be the case before Sunday: Depending on your framing, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 5 is coming up unusually murky or especially weak.

Whirl, the supposed star of Sunday’s three prep races for the Arc, flopped badly as the odds-on favorite in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille for older fillies and mares. Wide early, Whirl was moved early to the lead by jockey Christophe Soumillon and, after setting the pace to midstretch, Whirl had nothing to offer, fading to last of six.

Her 4-year-old rival Aventure went the other direction, cruising to the Vermeille lead at the furlong grounds and running out an easy 1 1/2-length win over 3-year-old Gezora. Second behind Bluestocking in the 2024 Vermeille, Aventure finished second behind Bluestocking in last year’s Arc. Her Sunday win made her one of the favorites for next month’s Arc, while runner-up Gezora, a Peter Brant-owned filly, also could wind up in the big race. Gezora made a solid late outside bid that never seriously threatened the winner. Christophe Ferland trains Aventure, a daughter of Sea the Stars, for her breeders, Alain and Gerard Wertheimer.

Byzantine Dream won the Group 2 Prix Foy for older horses running 1 1/2 miles over good-to-soft ground in 2:28.32, more than one second faster than Aventure’s 2:29.34, which could say more about the Vermeille than the Foy. Byzantine Dream, in from Japan, ran down another Wertheimer horse, favored Sosie, to win the Foy by a half-length, which, if nothing else, means the annual revival of the “Japan has never won the Arc” storyline.

Trained by Tomoyasu Sakaguchi and ridden by Oisin Murphy, Byzantine Dream never has won a race of any consequence in Japan, and while he showed improvement in his previous two starts, both came over staying trips. In February, he won the Red Sea Handicap in Saudia Arabia over 1 7/8 miles, and in his most recent outing, on May 2, Byzantine Dream finished a close second over two miles in the Tenno Sho Spring. Sosie, fourth in the 2024 Arc, won two early season French Group 1s of suspect quality earlier this year. The top two as well as third-place Almaqam could wind up in the Arc.

Cualificar, second by a half-length behind Camille Pissaro in the Prix du Jockey Club, won the Niel, for 3-year-olds, in his first start over 1 1/2 miles. Ridden by William Buick for Godolphin and trainer Andre Fabre, Cualificar, by Lope de Vega, was locked in a pocket for much of the stretch run and quickened nicely when Buick found a way outside. He ran down Bay City Roller by a head, and while Bay City Roller could be improving, he exited a sixth-place finish in the Group 2 City of York Stakes, a performance not far removed from form throughout this year.

Saturday at Kempton Park, Kalpana was supposed to burnish her credentials as Arc favorite prepping in the Group 3 September Stakes, an all-weather race that the great Enable won in 2018 before winning the Arc and again in 2020 before finishing sixth in the Arc. Kalpana won the September last year, but on Saturday was taken down by 6-year-old Giavellotto, who, to be fair, has been a creditable Group 1 horse this year. Kalpana, a Juddmonte homebred trained by Andrew Balding who has run well without winning this year, remains an Arc candidate.

Prix du Moulin

In news that would surprise no one paying attention this year, Rosallion took a narrow loss in a Group 1 mile he might have won when Sahlan nipped him Sunday at Longchamp in the Prix du Moulin.

Sahlan, a rising 3-year-old trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for Al Shaqab Racing, was coming off a Group 3 victory and improved on that form, getting the jump on Rosallion, who probably was best, and staving him off to win by a head. Graffard said Sahlan likes firm going and pointedly suggested the Breeders’ Cup Mile could be in the cards for this son of Wootton Bassett.

Rosallion at 3 finished a good second in the 2000 Guineas, won the Irish 2000 Guineas, and then landed the Group 1 St. James’s Palace at Royal Ascot before missing the rest of 2024. He’s turned in decent-to-strong performances in his five starts this year and has three seconds, a third, and a fourth to show for it.

*** In Germany, the France-based Goliath made all the running and won the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden by 1 1/2 lengths over favored Dubai Honour. Francis-Henri Graffard trains the 5-year-old, who had a powerhouse 4-year-old campaign but has slipped this year.

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