Longchamp: 71-1 shot wins Arc; 3 are aimed for Breeders' Cup

Racingfor the first time outside Germany for a trainer who has only 1 1/2 years ofexperience on his own, Torquator Tasso pulled off one of the biggest upsets inEuropean racing history by winning at odds of 71-1 on Sunday in the Group 1, $5.8million Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Tarnawa(4-1), who may yet try to defend her 2020 victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, waspassed late by Torquator Tasso and finished second, three-quarters of a length behind. Hurricane Lane (5-2), thepost-time favorite, was forward throughout the race and ended up third. Adayar(3-1) raced in mid-pack and wound up fourth of the 14 finishers.

Abbaye

Inthe tightest of photo finishes, the supplemented 3-year-old colt A Case of You(10-1) closed from far back in the field of 15 to edge long shot Air de Valse(51-1) and win the Prix de l’Abbaye (G1), a straight five-furlong dash.

Thefinal time of 58.07 seconds without a run-up came after fractions of 23.11 and45.83. Bought last winter by Gary Devlin, A Case of You was ridden by RonanWhelan for Irish trainer Adrian McGuinness, who said, “We might go to theBreeders’ Cup.” The Abbaye was a qualifier for the Turf Sprint.

GlassSlippers (4-1), the winner of 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, was third Sunday afterhaving finished second in this race last year. Mo Celita (24-1) came in fourth.

ACase of You was sired by Hot Streak. He had finished second last month in theFlying Five (G1) at the Curragh. His last previous victory was May 16 in aGrade 3 at Naas, Ireland.

Forêt

Eventhough the Prix de la Forêt (G1) was not a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race,the winning favorite Space Blues (7-2) has been ticketed to race in the Mile nextmonth at Del Mar.

“Althoughthe ground will be totally different at Del Mar, I might suggest we take himthere,” winning trainer Charlie Appleby said.

TheGodolphin homebred 5-year-old horse by Dubawi went from the rear of the fieldto take the lead in the last two furlongs, running on to a two-length victorySunday, going the downhill seven furlongs in 1:22.97.

PearlsGalore (7-1) and Entscheiden (46-1), both racing forward early, finished secondand third, respectively. Kinross (7-2) finished fourth in the field of 15. 

Itwas the second Group 1 win for Space Blues, who had won last summer in the PrixMaurice de Gheest at Deauville, France. He has never raced on firm ground inany of his 18 starts. His only win of at least a mile was in his debut threeyears ago.

Lagardère

Comingoff the bench more than two months after a Group 2 triumph at Goodwood,England, Angel Bleu (5-1) rallied from mid-pack late and ran on to finish firstby three-quarters of a length Sunday in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (G1), a “winand you’re in” at ParisLongchamp for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Ownedby Marc Chan and trained by Ralph Beckett, the 2-year-old Dark Angel colt wasridden to victory by the durable Frankie Dettori, 50, who has won the Lagardèrethree times. Since this is a rare year when Dettori does not have a ride in theArc, a race he has won a record six times, this might have been the highlight ofhis day at ParisLongchamp.

PacesettingNoble Truth (6-1) held on to finish second. The favorite Ancient Rome (2-1)closed from a wide trip to come in third. Accakaba (9-2) came from behind tofinish fourth.

Thewinning time of 1:24.57 for the race that begins going downhill came off earlyfractions of 23.59, 47.23 and 1:11.40 on the heavy turf course.

The Breeders’ Cup is little more than a “possibility” for Angel Bleu, Beckett said. “I don’t think we’ll get much soft ground atDel Mar. That would be a negative.” Beckett said a more likely next stop forAngel Bleu would be Saturday’s Dewhurst Stakes (G1) at Newmarket, England.

Boussac

Neverbefore a group winner, Zellie (7-2) closed from last place with a decisive railrun to win Sunday’s slowly run Prix Marcel Boussac (G1) at ParisLongchamp.

Sunday’sopener was a qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, but Zeilliewas ruled out of a run next month at Del Mar.

Ownedby the Al Wasmiyah Farm and trained by André Fabre, Zellie was slow out of thegate. Oisín Murphy did not hurry the Wootton Bassett filly early in his firstride on her. She took the lead in the last furlong of the one-mile race andextended to a 1 3/4-length triumph.

“Myfilly did not fly out of the stalls,” said Murphy, who was still sporting asplit lip after a paddock spill Thursday in England. “I just had to be patientand hope she would pick up.”

TimesSquare (33-1) closed from mid-pack to finish second. Oscula (7-1) made a strongclose to end up third. Agartha (9-2) stalked the early pace and settled forfourth.

Theslow winning time of 1:42.67 was a reflection of the conditions. Based inFrance, Zellie is 6: 4-2-0. She won her first three races before finishingsecond in a pair of summertime Group 3 stakes at Deauville.

PaulBastien, racing manager for Al Wasmiyah, said Zellie would not race again thisyear.

Rainis out of the forecast for the rest of a cloudy Sunday at ParisLongchamp, but italready had its impact Friday and Saturday, making the ground “heavy, soft inplaces,” according to France Galop.