Archive
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Letter of the Week

Treve rave

Most pundits intimated that the field taking part in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was the strongest for almost 30 years.
If that was the case, then the three-year-old filly that won it by five lengths at her only fifth start must be an equine superstar. Right?
Wind the clock forwards to last Sunday’s edition of this great race, and I’m flabbergasted to see that Treve is paying almost four times the each-way odds. Sure, she hadn’t reproduced last year’s great form but this season she’s had more injuries than Shane Watson, if that’s even possible.
I also took comfort in the fact that she’s trained by the first lady of French racing (the deliciously named Criquette Head-Maarek) and she wouldn’t risk such a valuable racehorse if she didn’t think she’d be competitive. A few francs were a must.
Treve won her second Arc by two lengths, and whilst that margin wasn’t as impressive as last year’s, when put in context with the injuries she suffered as a four-year-old it is perhaps comparable.
Previously in these pages I have waxed lyrical about the great Frankel, but even I’m not sure that had he crossed the channel he would have won consecutive Arcs. Guess we’ll never know.
By the way, with the good form Japanese horses displayed in previous Arcs, it was thought that this might be their year. They all finished with the strugglers. Perhaps a portent of things to come in the Melbourne Cup?

John Bansky
Newport (Vic)
Today's Racing
Saturday 30 March
Sunday 31 March
Monday 1 April