The turf: Triumph and tragedy

Have the French got the balls to do it? After the triumph of Corine Barande-Barbe’s globe-trotting superstar Cirrus des Aigles in Dubai’s Sheema Classic on World Cup Night the debate has resumed: will they open up Europe’s most prestigious race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, to horses like Cirrus des Anges who are geldings — animals with their wedding tackle removed, an operation often performed to improve the temperament of an unruly colt? Should such top races be reserved for horses with a breeding future or should top-class geldings be allowed to take their chance alongside mares and ‘entire’ horses. Since the most exciting older horses are often geldings it must at least be considered. After all, the French did alter the length of their Derby to suit modern breeding fashion and it is probably only a matter of time before some European Court of Rights rules that barring geldings is denying the rights of a minority.  

World Cup Night in Dubai this year was a mixture of triumph and tragedy, and it was full of portents for the British Flat season which has just begun. The tragedy was that the richest night’s racing in the world, with unrivalled facilities and no welfare expense spared, still reminded us that it isn’t only horses who jump fences and hurdles who can be fatally injured in races: three of the night’s equine participants lost their lives.

The triumphs came in several forms: young British jockey James Doyle simply stole the Dubai Duty Free, catching a world-class field of jockeys napping by bursting to the front two furlongs out and winning in a course record time. The infant prodigy Mickael Barzalona won the World Cup itself in exuberant style, standing up in the saddle well short of the line as his 20–1 mount Monterosso led home a 1–2 for Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni.