Trainer Takashi Saito is eager to use the experience of an unsuccessful Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bid as he puts the finishing touches to Croix Du Nord’s preparation for Sunday’s ParisLongchamp showpiece.
Back in 2021, Saito saddled his first runner in the Arc in the shape of Chrono Genesis, a four-time Group 1 winner in her native Japan. At ParisLongchamp, however, she could manage only seventh in a race run on very soft ground, with the daughter of Bago tiring late on after more than three months on the sidelines.
Croix Du Nord, on the other hand, has the benefit of a recent outing on French soil, having denied fellow Arc contender Daryz (Sea The Stars) by a nose in last month’s G3 Prix du Prince d’Orange at Sunday’s venue. Beaten just once in six career starts, with his victories including this year’s G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), the son of Kitasan Black is currently trading at around 8/1 as he tries to become the first Japanese-trained winner of Europe’s richest race.
“I raced the Arc with Chrono Genesis four years ago and that didn’t go well, but having this opportunity again, I’m so delighted and feeling honoured to run again. It’s a different horse but I’m delighted to have a challenger again,” said Saito.
“After the race [the 2021 Arc], I kind of realised it was too much. We trained hard and it was too hard for her [Chrono Genesis] – that’s what I learned from that time. Many different horses taught me many different things. Croix Du Nord, coming back with him, it’s very hard to win the race, but we think it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s hard to point out one thing, but I learnt many things from different horses in Japan and outside of Japan. I would like to show what I learned and how I improved in these four years.”
Croix Du Nord is one of three Japanese-trained challengers, with the possible field rising to 18 after Aidan O’Brien supplemented leading three-year-old filly Minnie Hauk (Frankel) on Wednesday.
Byzantine Dream (Epiphaneia) is the shortest-priced of the trio after winning last month’s G2 Prix Foy over the Arc course and distance, having also won the G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap in Saudi Arabia back in February. Oisin Murphy was in the saddle on both of those occasions and is set to continue the association on Sunday.
In winning the Prix Foy, Byzantine Dream clocked a time that was a second faster than Arc favourite Aventure (Sea The Stars) recorded in the G1 Prix Vermeille over the same course and distance, but his trainer Tomoyasu Sakaguchi does not believe a straight comparison can be drawn.
He said, “You cannot simply compare because the pace, field size and level of the field will all be different in the Arc. But it was a great run by him and I think he’s still improving from that race.
“Probably, we don’t want heavy ground. We’re not sure how he would handle that because we have never experienced that. We know he likes better ground, but we don’t know about soft or heavy, if he can handle it.”
Alohi Alii completes the Japanese challenge and is another with a French success under his belt having made all to beat Rashabar (Holy Roman Emperor) by a comfortable three and a half lengths in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville.
The three-year-old was returning from a 118-day break when claiming that Group 2 prize and trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka believes the son of Duramente will improve for the outing.
He said, “We were originally aiming for the Grand Prix de Paris, but there was a minor setback. The horse came back well to prepare for the Guillaume d’Ornano. It was great to win as I know it’s a high-class race.
“The Guillaume d’Ornano was after his four-month lay off and the training did not go as we planned. He definitely wasn’t fit – 10 days or a week before the race we were concerned about scratching him – but that week we thought he was fine to race and he did really well.
“In his training, he got keener in a good way after the race, coming back for this autumn campaign. He’s adapted to the French track, so he’s definitely fitter and improving. Rain is expected, but we don’t want to make an excuse. I hope he will handle the ground.”
AloJapan.com