French Racing / Editor / 13 August 2007 /

Forget the hype surrounding Zambezi Sun for the Arc; it's all about Manduro

Zambezi Sun's recent impressive win in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp
prompted some to ask on the Betfair forum "did we just see the Arc winner?"

Well, the answer is "no", unless I am very mistaken, as I've just seen the winner in the shape of Manduro.

For those that didn't catch the Prix Jaques Le Marois, I can tell you that rarely does one witness such an awesome demonstration of power from a thoroughbred. I doubt you'll see another performance as good as this for a fair few years. He picked-up this field of proven Group One winners and carried them.

The French 3yo yardstick, Lawman, up until now hailed a champion, never got in a blow. And considering how comprehensively Authorised was turned over in his first attempt against his elders in the Eclipse, it looks like the Classic crop aren't up to scratch this year.

It wasn't just the manner of victory that left the impression that we'd just witnessed something very special. His jockey, Stephane "Rail Link" Pasquier, was uncharacteristically (almost) lost for words after the event. He just about had enough breath (and it wasn't because he had to work hard in the race) to mutter the words "un cheval exceptional" - an exceptional horse. And this guy is probably best judge in the French weighing room - if you like, the Gallic equivalent of Phillip Robinson.

But will he get the Arc trip? The furthest he's gone so far is 2100m (1m2½f) a race in which he finished with some effect. Certainly the canny Monsieur Fabre thinks so, as he has had the Arc in mind for this horse all year.

Paul Harley, racing manager to owner Baron Georg von Ullmann, confirmed the Arc as the target - so no worries about the horse turning up (assuming no set-backs in the next eight weeks or so) for those that want to bet ante-post.

His sire, Monsun, had plenty of stamina, most of his winning being done over 12 furlongs and he probably would have stayed further had he been given the opportunity. His progeny do their winning over an average just shy of a mile-and-a-half, so no worries there. His dam Mandellicht only raced four times and wasn't tried over further than a mile. But her pedigree suggests 10f would have been the minimum to show her best.

However, looking at Manduro himself, he always looked as though he'd stay a trip, and probably even improve over it. He won over a mile as a juvenile and was twice a Pattern winner over 10f at three. Also, he was going away when staying-on strongly from Dylan Thomas over 10f at Royal Ascot. So for me, there are no doubts about the Arc trip.

One thing that isn't a worry is the ground, as he's won on all sorts. You've got the jockey for the job (Pasquier will ride) and you've certainly got the trainer for the job.

What are the dangers? The three year olds have plenty still to prove and you need to be a huge optimist to make a case for Dylan Thomas turning the Ascot form around even over the longer trip.

Come October we'll be looking at France's fourteenth winner of the Arc since 1990.

La Casqaqe Noire

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