THE GREAT Prix de 1’Arc de Triomphe showdown didn’t materialise, but that was hardly the fault of Sinndar, who galloped into racing history at Longchamp yesterday with the swagger of one of the true greats.
In this case the statistics don’t lie, and the fact that the Irish-trained winner completed the unprecedented treble of the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby and the Arc speaks volumes for his talent.
It also shouts the ability of his trainer, John Oxx, and jockey John Murtagh, who have exhibited maximum belief in their champion this season, to the four corners of international racing.
Asked when he thought Sinndar had the Arc won, Murtagh quipped: “After the Prix Niel!”
Murtagh, who enjoyed the sort of day that jockeys usually dream about but dismiss as wishful thinking, was entitled to the boast. The 30-year-old from Dunderry in Co Meath has had to endure some well-chronicled personal problems in his life, but Sinndar has been the crowning glory of a memorable season.
“Winning the Derby was a brilliant experience and I don’t like comparing, but this is just an unbelievable feeling,” said Murtagh, who also won the Prix de l’Abbaye on the Oxx-trained Namid and the Prix de 1’Opera on Petrushka.
His mood couldn’t have contrasted more greatly, however, than with Murtagh’s fellow Irishman Mick Kinane, who had to endure finishing only fourth on the race favourite and the 1999 Arc holder Montjeu.
“He slipped slightly as he left the stalls and I was left in no-man’s land,” reported Kinane, before Montjeu’s trainer, John Hammond, gave an admirably no frills assessment to the throng around him.
“I think we all know that Montjeu is considerably better than he showed today, but he’s had a great career and nobody can expect him to go on forever,” he said.
“Yes I’m disappointed. He slipped leaving the stalls and he couldn’t get the position he wanted, but he just didn’t fire on the day.”
Hammond added: “He’s been on the boil for two years, which is hard for any horse. It takes it out of them.
“But we will see if he runs again before going to stud. He might do, but I would imagine the Champion Stakes is very doubtful.”
Instead of Montjeu it was the French Oaks winner Egyptband who threw down the ultimate challenge, but there was an inevitability about Sinndar’s progress that precluded any argument about his superiority. The only slight moment of anxiety came at the start when Sinndar’s pacemaker, Raypour, missed the break and took his time about getting ahead of his stable companion.
For a second it looked like Raypour’s £38,000-plus (€50,000) supplementary fee was an expensive mistake, but soon his rider, Niall McCullagh, and Murtagh had things under control. Raypour led Sinndar to the straight, Sinndar took over, Montjeu flattered for a moment and the race was over.
It was almost as simple as Oxx was calm.
