Note: This piece was written as Deputy Editor for Idol Horse.
Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe result may have only limited bearing on December’s Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) – last year’s Vase winner Giavellotto, gallant in fourth on ground softer than ideal, is likely to return as a headline act – but it still added a historic new layer to the Sha Tin showpiece through the pedigree of Arc winner Daryz.
Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges has long envisioned turning the HKIR into a true year-end championship that shapes the breed but its hurdle has been convincing breeders that a Sha Tin triumph adds pedigree value. “Adding breeding value is where we can make progress,” he said back in 2016. “But progress will be incremental.”
That “incremental” progress leapt forward on Sunday when Daryz, a three-year-old whose bloodlines are steeped in HKIR history, captured the Arc.