10 days to go - France Galop

N°3
Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe
Special Edition
10 days to go
Qatar
de l’Arc
de Triomphe
JapanPrix
seeks
to conquer
Longchamp Racecourse, Paris · Sunday 7 th october
Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
Entrance ticket 8€ · Free admitance for children - Tickets available at fnac.com, carrefour.com, francebillet.com - more informations : france-galop.com
12757_Aff_320x240_QatarArcTriomph_AlEmadi_UK.indd 1
09/08/12 16:26
the video
orfevre seen by
Christophe Soumillon
Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe
6 et 7 octobre 2012
OVERVIEW
Winning the Arc, view from Japon
From dreams to reality?
The history of Japan’s fascination with the Qatar
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
dates back to 1969, when
the six year old Speed
Symboli finished 10th of
24 runners. This season,
Orfevre will attempt to
become the first Japanese
trained horse to win, a status that would see him immortalised in his home
country.
Since the revolutionary first attempt, 11
horses have taken their chance in
Europe’s richest race, with three coming close to victory: El Condor Pasa
(1999) and Nakayama Festa (2010)
finished runners up, whilst Deep
Impact passed the post third in 2006
before being disqualified.
Japanese racing and breeding has
grown and expanded into one of the
most important forces worldwide. By
importing some of the best bloodstock
from Europe and the United States in the
1980s, which has continued to the
present day, they have created an industry of world renown. This has gone hand
in hand with the opening up of various
important domestic races to outside
challengers from other countries.
In France, the first Japanese breakthrough came in 1998 at Deauville
where Seeking The Pearl took the
Prix Maurice de Gheest, with the four
year old Taiki Shuttle winning the
Prix Jacques Le Marois a week later. A
year on, El Condor Pasa took the
Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in July. He
followed on by taking the Prix Foy before going down half a length to
Montjeu in the Arc.
Since then, the €4 million event has become an objective for the Japanese,
maybe even an obsession. In 2006 several thousands of fans came to
Longchamp to support Deep Impact.
Four years later, two Nippon horses
were in the line up for the first time:
Nakayama Festa (2nd) and Victoire
Pisa (7th). The latter then took the
world’s richest race, the Dubai World
Cup ($10 million), the following March.
Aki Akitani, Secretary-General to the
International Federation of Horseracing
Authorities explains, “For Japanese
horsemen, winning the Arc is a dream,
as it is the biggest race in the world in
terms of prestige and quality. The dream
has become an objective for our professionals, whilst the fans think that it is
on a par with Wimbledon or the St
Andrews Trophy in golf.”
The quest for the Holy Grail is such
that Orfevre’s entourage have chosen a jockey that knows Longchamp
like the back of his hand, Christophe
Soumillon, instead of his regular partner Kenichi Ikezoe. This is the first
time that it has happened, showing
that the Japanese have left no stone
unturned for their quest.
Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe
6 et 7 octobre 2012
THE NUMBER
Orfevre will be the 13th
Japanese horse in the Arc
z 1969: Speed Symboli
z 1972: Mejiro Musashi
z 1986: Sirius Symboli
z 1999: El Condor Pasa
z 2002: Manhattan Cafe
z 2004 : Tap Dance City
13
El Condor Pasa
Deep Impact
: Meisho Samson
z 2010 : Nakayama Festa
Victoire Pisa
z 2011: Hiruno d’Amour
Nakayama Festa
z 2012: Orfevre
z 2006 : unplaced
unplaced
unplaced
2nd
unplaced
unplaced
z 2008
(3rd) disqualified
10th
2nd
7th
10th
unplaced
?
Horse profile
Orfevre
Orfevre became one of the superstars of Japanese racing last year when he triumphed in
their Triple Crown for his trainer Yasutoshi Ikee. Subsequently crowned Horse Of The Year,
the colt became the first to achieve the feat since Deep Impact in 2005.
Bred by Teruya Yoshida’s
Shadai Corporation on May
14, 2008, the colt is the fifth
produce of his three a winning dam Oriental Art. His
pedigree is one that the Ikee
family know well.
Yasutoshi trained Orfevre’s
full brother Dream Journey
to become Champion Two
Year Old in 2006, whilst his
father Yasuo handled the career of the colt’s sire Stay Gold, as well as his
dam sire Mejiro McQueen.
Orfevre made his debut as a juvenile at
Niigata in August 2010, where it became
clear that the colt was something special in
more ways than one. After passing the post
with a length and a half to spare, he then unshipped his jockey, showing a trait of character that has sometimes been tricky to
handle.
A visible turning point in Orfevre’s career
came in March of his Classic year. After winning the Spring Stakes, the now four year old
went on to take the Satsuki Sho (Japanese
2,000 Guineas) a month later by three lengths,
followed by the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese
Derby).
After a prep race back at Hanshin, the colt triumphed in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.
Leger) in October, the final leg of the Triple
Crown. He finished the season with an impressive display in the Arima Kinen, his first
time against older horses.
This year, the colt booked his ticket for the Arc
when winning the Takarazuka Kinen in June
following two runs best forgotten earlier in the
season. His run in the Prix Foy confirmed him
to be well on track for October 7, with
Christophe Soumillon in the saddle for the
first time.
About Orfevre
z Winner
of nine races
from 15 starts and just
under €9.5 million in
prize money
z Currently the sixth
best horse in the world with a
rating of 125
z Won over distances of 1600 metres to
3000 metres
z His name Orfevre means “goldsmith”
in French.
z Orfevre and Dream Journey are the
highest earners by Stay Gold, also the
sire of 2010 Arc second Nakayama
Festa
Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe
6 et 7 octobre 2012
Trainer Profile
Yasutoshi Ikee
One of Japan’s young training sensations,
Arc glory has long been present in the
mind of Yasutoshi Ikee since Horse of the
Year Orfevre came onto the big stage. On
September 16, the colt passed his first
French test when taking the Qatar Prix Foy.
Winning the €4 million event would place
the quietly spoken 43 year old firmly in the
history books as the first non-European
trainer ever to triumph, further adding to
his nine domestic Group 1 winners already
recorded since setting up in 2004.
Ikee is a second-generation horseman, following in his father Yasutoshi’s footsteps,
who took out a training licence having retired from the saddle. The latter’s entrée
into the racing world came only by chance
following a suggestion from his school
teacher as a result of his small size.
A childhood friend of Yutake Take, Ikee junior also wanted to start his career as a jockey, but luck wasn’t on his side, quickly growing too tall. This led him to the training path,
spending time Sir Michael Stoute in
Newmarket in 1997, as well as Neil Drysdale
in the United States a season later.
Returning to Japan, where he took up training at Ritto near Kyoto after several years
working for his father, Ikee had an ideal
start to his career, recording his first winner in as many attempts.
Like his father before him, Ikee has had a
long association with the Yoshida family,
who own Orfevre under the Sunday
Racing Co. Ltd banner. Their horses comprise two thirds of his 60 strong stable.
It was their homebred Dream Journey
that quickly propelled the young trainer
into the spotlight soon after starting up. A
full brother to Orfevre, he went on to be-
come Champion Two Year Old in 2006,
and won three Group 1 events for Japan’s
leading racing family.
Several high profile successes have followed, and aside from Orfevre winning
the Triple Crown and Arima Kinen last
year, Ikee also took the Tenno Sho with
Tosen Jordan last October.
The modest trainer is no stranger to the
strains and stresses of being involved with
runners in Europe’s richest race. After
making his first trip to Longchamp with
Pilsudski when he finished second 15
years ago, he then returned in 2006 with
his father’s Deep Impact.
Could it be third time lucky?
About Yasutoshi Ikee
z Born: 13th
January, 1969
win: 20th March, 2004 with Sonic
Surpass
z Youngest trainer to win the Japanese Derby
in 2011 aged 42 years and four months,
z First time in JRA history that a father and
son had won this race
z Currently lies at the top of the Japanese
trainer’s list by earnings, and second in
terms of winners
z First
Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe
6 et 7 octobre 2012
Point of view: the Arc seen by
Yasutoshi Ikee
For the last decade, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
has been the target of several Japanese assaults, all of
which have been unsuccessful thus far. “No trainer outside Europe has won the Arc, and it would be a fantastic
honour to become the first,” Yasutoshi Ikee explains.
“For the Japanese, the event is the most exceptional
and prestigious race in the world, and I would love to
win it. There is a lot of media coverage back home surrounding the event, but I don’t feel any pressure now
because I am in France!”
THE STATISTIc
2 from 11
Christophe Soumillon
has already won the
Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe twice from 11 rides.
After his first attempt on Daring Miss in 2000, he
took the event with Dalakhani three years later.
The 31 year old finished second in 2004 with
Cherry Mix, before triumphing with Zarkava
four years ago.
Last year, the two times Champion Jockey did not ride
in the race due to suspension. The Belgian also has the
distinction of having triumphed in a Group 1 race over
jumps, as well as winning an amateur trotting race.
Olivier Peslier and Frankie Dettori count three wins
each in Europe’s richest race, the highest amount for
a jockey still active.
IN BRIEF
The Press Department of
France Galop has already
accredited 70 Japanese
journalists. This is the same
amount with two days to go
before the Qatar Prix de l’Arc
de Triomphe last year, but
less than 2006, where 135
members of the press came
to support Deep Impact.
With one week to go, these
figures could increase again,
with the importance of the Arc
and Orfevre’s bid to become
the first Japanese trained
horse to triumph becoming
increasingly important for the
land of the rising sun.
Christophe Soumillon and Orfevre take the Qatar Prix Foy
[email protected]
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