Can Daryz be stopped and what did we learn from Arc trials weekend?

Arc trials weekend wasn’t blemish-free from a personal point of view, having fancied Gethin to muscle his way into the picture in Saturday’s William Hill September Stakes at Kempton.

The fact his antepost price near enough doubled on the back of a one-length prep run defeat to the mercurial but talented gelding Pride Of Arras looks a bit of an over-reaction on the face of it, but Gethin – who went off the 4/6 favourite at the weekend – hanging left throughout the majority of the final two furlongs may be indicative of a broader issue and his participation in Paris in a month’s time now seems unlikely.

Sunly rising to the top

At Longchamp on Sunday, the traditional trials delivered plenty of intrigue, each of the three races won by a very different type and I’ll start with the Prix Vermeille which has held Group 1 status since its introduction in 1971.

One could debate whether it should really be classed as a ‘trial’ for anything really but the Vermeille is clearly a prestigious contest and is ideally-positioned too having been won by the subsequent Arc winner on seven occasions in the past, including Bluestocking just two years ago.

Victory this year went to Friendly Soul, who wasn’t entered for the Arc by John & Thady Gosden but now has a paid-up ticket should connections wish to tackle the males having proven herself over the 12-furlong trip. It was her first try at the distance and she passed with flying colours despite having Composing for company up front from before the halfway stage.

Friendly Soul was introduced at 25/1 by Paddy Power and Sky Bet, that price tempered due to the potential of her having another shot at the Prix de l’Opera, a race she won in 2024, instead of the Arc, before stepping back up in trip in the Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day.

Vermeille second Pink Panthera will likely lie in wait again if the Opera is preferred, Patrice Cottier’s filly quietly building a very nice profile having only made her debut this January. Runner-up to Diamond Necklace at a big price in the Prix de Diane in June, a trip to the Breeders’ Cup is reportedly in the offing for her later in the year.

Francis Graffard had a day to remember but Sunly was the one that got away after blowing her chances when stumbling at the start. Colin Keane did the sensible thing in not rushing her up to the rest of the pack too quickly, but Sunly then suffered interference when trying to negotiate weakening rivals heading for home, and she could do no more than flash home for a one-length third.

Juddmonte also have Kalpana in the shake-up too but Sunly looks every bit a Group 1 winner in waiting and going back to 10 furlongs over Arc weekend could be a mistake given her style of racing. I’d be interested in the 25/1 about her for the big one once plans are firmed up.

Three-year-old will need a true test

Shortly after the Vermeille, Graffard, jockey Mickael Barzalona and the Aga Khan Studs snared the other Group 1 on the day, the Prix du Moulin, with Erdenali and promptly completed a treble courtesy of Varandir in the Prix Niel and Daryz in the Prix Foy.

It was interesting to look back on the trainer’s pre-race comments in light of Varandir’s Sunday success, Graffard stating: “I don’t think he’s a horse that can be competitive in the Arc, he’s not up to that level... I’m not trying to find many horses to beat Daryz in the Arc!"

What a difference a day (or three) makes in this game with owners’ representative Nemone Routh soon after the event saying: “Sometimes it's good to have two runners as you can be drawn in 18 of 18 with one, and have a good draw with another. So why not spread your chances? It's a possibility.”

Varandir running in the Arc looks more than a possibility from where I’m standing. You only get one shot to go for it getting the weight-for-age allowance as an improving colt with an almost unblemished record.

It won't have been lost on many that his sole defeat so far came in the Grand Prix de Paris which speaks favourably to the chances of winner Maltese Cross, but Varandir had raced keenly on that occasion, still looking raw when the sprint for home began, and he’s evidently grown up fast for all that odds-on favourite Benvenuto Cellini simply not showing up resulted in the Prix Niel being a relatively winnable affair.

Varandir is also entered in the 1m7f Prix de Chaudenay over Arc weekend which probably explains what Graffard had been suggesting in midweek, but a testing surface would play to his strengths and he’s still only just beginning to reach his full potential.

The king of Longchamp

Daryz, who clearly kicks his younger stablemate into touch whenever they compare homework, oozed class and control when accounting for the gallant Bay City Roller, who definitely found the ground on the lively side in the Prix Foy, and I must admit to half-considering the idea of him not only winning it again but becoming the first triple Arc winner on the back of this display.

It's pie in the sky to some extent, an almost impossible one to price up on account of not knowing whether connections might even consider keeping him in training at five. But if someone were to dangle 33/1? Hand on heart, 16s might genuinely tempt me.

I’m getting ahead of myself as the Timeform figures will no doubt show he didn’t need to improve on his peak form already in the book to win Sunday’s trial, but he did so in no more than third gear and he's unlikely to have been over 90% fit.

Graffard strikes me as a man with searing ambition and there is definitely an aura about this horse, a son of the great Sea The Stars.

George Scott summed it up when admitting "he is unbelievable around here” and, even with the likes of Thundering On, Item and Almaqam entitled to state their case at this weekend’s Irish Champions Festival, right now it’s hard to see anything knocking Daryz from his Longchamp throne early next month.

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