Saddadd has the measure of King Of Cities

Varian: Saddadd can improve further for longer trips in 2027

Horse Racing

Sun October 11, 2026 · 20h ago

Roger Varian believes Group One winner Saddadd will be even better again when he returns to the track next year.

The Newmarket handler has drawn stumps on the season with the son of Pinatubo, who finished down the field on what was to be his final start of the campaign in the Group One Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.

Classic-winning handler Varian has raised the prospect of the four-year-old, who bagged top-level honours this year in the WETTSTAR.de 156th Grosser Preis von Baden, racing beyond a mile and a half next term given his finishing effort at the Parisian venue.

Varian said: “We won’t go back to Germany this year. That is him done for the year. He ran well in the Arc as the race wasn’t run to suit. There was seven lengths between first and sixteenth, and he was fifteenth, six and a half lengths behind Daryz and a neck behind the eleventh.

“If you watch the race he was just rolling through the line. He is very relaxed and laid back. He shuts down through a race and he responds to pressure.

“He can only improve with age. Ray (Dawson) got off him at Longchamp and said you could even go a mile six furlongs with him."

Although Saddadd had only had one rival behind him come the finish line on his most recent start, Varian admits he was far from disappointed with the performance.

Varian said: "He doesn’t have great gate speed, and, from stall nine, I thought he got as good a position as could have. He was mid-division, had Kalpana inside of him, and he was following Maltese Cross.

“It looked two-by-two early on, and I thought that was about as good as we could have hoped for from the gates. The pace was kind of steady and the challenges came from the outside. Through no fault of his own he was shuffled further back than his initial track position.

“The sprint was then on as soon as they straightened off the false straight. He took a while to get going and crossed the line just hitting his straps, but the race was over.

“For me it wasn’t a disappointment as I thought he ran well, and it was a bit of an ask anyway.

"We watch most Arcs where there is a furlong between first and last, and I think that would have suited him. Seven lengths separating the field isn’t his kind of gig, but he didn’t disgrace himself."

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