France: Daryz powers to second consecutive Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe win; could be final race

Heavily favored Daryz did not disappoint Sunday at Longchamp, where he won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second year in a row.

Once jockey Mickael Barzalona got Daryz outside and into the clear with 400 of the Arc’s 2,400 meters remaining, it was lights out for the other 15 horses in the Arc. Daryz delivered a withering run, gliding home a 1 1/4-length winner, the first male horse to win two Arcs since Alleged in 1978.

The mare Enable in 2018 was the last repeat Arc winner but failed the following season to win one of the world’s most prestigious races for a third time. 

Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard’s post-race comments strongly suggested Daryz, an Aga Khan homebred, would be retired to stud rather than race again next year at age 5. Some British bookmakers cut Daryz’s price down to about 10-1 for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but those odds suggest it’s unlikely the colt travels to Keeneland later this month.

Daryz paid $4.40 on the American tote, and while Barzalona found himself farther off the pace than expected, he had little trouble running down Bay City Roller once Barzalona got his mount fully engaged. Daryz, a fairly compact model who travels low to the ground, is by the great Arc winner Sea the Stars and out of Daryakana, by Selkirk. His record stands at 12-9-1-1, and on the two Arcs alone, he has to be rated one of the better 10- 12-furlong horses of recent vintage.

Runner-up Bay City Roller came rolling up to press the pace in the Arc and ran extremely well over good ground thought to be firmer than he prefers. His next target is the Champion Stakes in two weeks at Ascot, and coming back again for the BC Turf would be a big ask.

Three-year-old filly Diamond Necklace finished third, just a neck behind Bay City Roller, while racing over 1 1/2 miles for the first time. Aidan O’Brien trains Diamond Necklace, who one could easily see showing up at Keeneland for either the BC Turf or Filly and Mare Turf.

Friendly Soul set the pace and held well for fourth, while Kalpana stalked from the rail, made an inside run, but could not produce her best finish and settled for fifth.

Even on her best day, Kalpana would not have triumphed. Nobody was keeping Daryz from his second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

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