Waldgeist denies Enable third Arc victory

“Waldgeist wins his first Arc” is not the headline anyone was looking for Sunday, but it was Waldgeist, fourth in the 2018 Arc, who ran right past Enable in the final half-furlong of the Group 1, $5,490,000 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Enable was the odds-on favorite to become the first horse to win the Arc three times and 300 yards from the finish it looked like she was making history. But no sooner had Enable turned back the pair of 3-year-olds, Sottsass and Japan, making a run at her than 5-year-old Waldgeist wheeled outside those two, gathered momentum, and burst past the great mare to win the Arc by 1 3/4 lengths.

It was the eighth Arc for legendary French trainer Andre Fabre but the first for jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot, who on Sunday made all the right moves – especially the last one.

This Arc was run over very soft ground and even Waldgeist required 25.16 seconds, very slow by top-class standards, to cover his final 400 meters. And in what became a slogging test of stamina, Enable’s ran out with about 75 yards to go after her pilot, Frankie Dettori, had engineered a lovely trip.

Dettori positioned Enable in fourth, several lengths behind a lead group headed by Ghaiyyath and including Magical, and as the field passed through the turning portion of the contest Dettori glanced behind him, seeing nothing threatening to box him in, and bided his time. Fierement was the first to drop from the leading trio as Dettori moved Enable behind Magical through Longchamp’s false home stretch, and as Magical took the measure of a fading Ghaiyyath, Dettori swung out, a quarter-mile to run, and pumped his arms to set Enable into action. She churned past Magical as Sottsass, who had followed Enable all the way around, tried to engage the mare, Japan coming hard from the back of the field to reach contention, too.

Waldgeist had raced seventh and eighth during the early and middle stages and as Sottsass and Japan rushed up to try Enable, Boudot toyed with a run inside or between horses. Instead, he wheeled Waldgeist out to the center of the track and when Waldgeist straightened up with daylight in front of him, he set off after Enable. Boudot, Waldgeist’s regular rider, had made it clear to European press all year he thought Waldgeist needs firm going to produce his top performance, but the diminutive chestnut horse skipped over the very soft ground and cut down the champion. Enable, racing along the inside rail, several paths inside Waldgeist, might not ever have seen him coming but having already turned in 300 meters of fine work over this tiring turf, she appeared to have exhausted her reserves.

Winning time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:31.97 as Waldgeist paid $28.20 in North America. Enable finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Sottsass, the Peter Brant-owned 3-year-old French Derby winner who performed well Sunday at the end of a light campaign. Sottsass had 1 3/4 lengths on third-place Japan, who was followed home by Magical, Soft Light, Kiseki, Nagano Gold, French King, Ghaiyyath, Blast Onepiece, and Fierement.

Shortly after the Arc, Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Enable’s owner-breeder, Juddmonte Farms, said no decision had yet been reached on Enable’s future, leaving open the chance she could return to the U.S. for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, a race she won in 2018.

Fabre also left open the chance Waldgeist could race again in 2019, saying he would discuss plans with the horse’s owner coming out of the Arc.

Waldgeist is by Galileo out of Wadlerche, by Monsun, is owned by Gestut Ammerland and Newsells Park, and now has nine wins from 21 starts. He had an ambitious 4-year-old season, finishing fourth in the Arc, fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and fifth in the Hong Kong Vase when likely beyond his best last December. Waldgeist won the Prix Foy last month in his Arc prep, after which Fabre said the horse was in the best shape of his career. True – good enough, even, to take down the great Enable.