Japanese trainer Saito hopes for better Arc experience second time round / Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD - AFP
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Japanese trainer Saito hopes for better Arc experience second time round
Japanese trainer Takashi Saito hopes he has absorbed the bitter lessons of his first failed tilt at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when he takes another shot at Europe's most prestigious race on Sunday with Croix du Nord.
Saito said he had left Longchamp with "regrets" after Chrono Genesis trailed in only seventh of the 14 runners in 2021.
Croix du Nord, Byzantine Dream and Alohi Alii provide a powerful three-pronged Japanese challenge for the prize they have dreamed of winning and fallen short, sometimes heartbreakingly so, for over half a century.
All three won their French preps for the five million euro ($5.9 mln) showcase.
However, their predecessors often did too only to find the Arc a far tougher challenge -- four times they filled second spot (El Condor Pasa in 1999, Nakayama Festa in 2010 and Orfevre twice in 2012/13).
This has not deterred either challengers coming from Japan or thousands of Japanese 'turfistes' flooding Longchamp racecourse and injecting much needed betting money into the purses of French racing.
Even before they have flashed their cash both Croix du Nord and Byzantine Dream are among the leading fancies according to the bookmakers.
They lie just below triple Oaks winning Irish filly Minnie Hauk and last year's runner-up Aventure in the betting market.
Japanese Derby winner Croix du Nord arrives on the back of a decent win in the Group Three Prix du Prince d'Orange at Longchamp last month, jockey Yuichi Kitamura just holding off Daryz, who reopposes on Sunday.
"It is great to have this opportunity again, as I left so disappointed last time," Saito told the media after a final warm-up gallop for his runner at Chantilly on Wednesday.
"Chrono Genesis did not go well.
"After the race I realised I had been too hard on her and not had her in the best condition possible to do herself justice.
"It was too much for her. Since then I have gained experience, many different horses running in Japan and elsewhere taught me many different things.
"This is a very hard race to win, however, I have learned too many things since 2021 to highlight one particular lesson."
- 'Reference point' -
Saito said he hoped Croix du Nord, who runs in the same silks as Orfevre, added: "I hope on Sunday Croix du Nord shows how I improved over the past four years."
Oisin Murphy was on board Chrono Genesis four years ago but the Irish jockey will ride Byzantine Dream in this year's Arc.
Trainer Tomoyasu Sakaguchi said it was a no brainer for Murphy to ride after the four-time British champion jockey guided Byzantine Dream to success in Saudi Arabia in April and then the Arc prep race the Prix Foy at Longchamp last month.
Sakaguchi, who like Byzantine Dream would be winning his first Group One if successful on Sunday, dismissed his horse's winning time in the Foy being a second faster than Aventure's over the same distance in the Prix Vermeille the same day.
"There are a lot more runners to contend with in the Arc," he said.
"The time is of course a reference point but is not the most important factor and besides they are hard to compare.
"He ran well in the Prix Foy, that is what is encouraging, and he has improved since."
Alohi Alii will also have a non-Japanese jockey on board, Christophe Lemaire, though, the Frenchman is well known in Japan as he has ridden there for a decade.
The 46-year-old gained the ride after he won on Alohi Alii in his warm-up win at Deauville in August.
Alohi Alii's trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka said part of his motivation to switch from being a jockey to a trainer was to win the Arc.
"To participate in the Arc is a really proud moment for me," he said.
"To win it would be extraordinary."
J.Petit--JdCdC
