Trainer Charlie Appleby says Derby winner Adayar has bounced back from the problem which caused him to miss his prep race for Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and will go into Europe’s biggest race in the ‘form of his life’.
Adayar suffered an undisclosed setback and missed two important pieces of work, prompting him to sidestep last month’s Prix Niel at Longchamp.
But Appleby says everything has gone to plan since then for William Buick’s mount as he heads into the race alongside equally talented stablemate Hurricane Lane.
Adayar will seek to emulate Mill Reef (1971) and Lammtarra (1995) by landing glorious treble
Appleby said: ‘Any setback is never ideal. We couldn’t afford to meet with another. But having hit every target we have put in front of him since, I am confident Adayar will go into the Arc in the form of his life.
‘We have seen what Hurricane Lane can do over a mile and a half, and he stays the distance well — that’s what won him the Irish Derby.
‘He was also an impressive winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and I felt he didn’t have to go through all the gears to win the St Leger. We are supremely privileged to have two colts of their profiles going into the Arc.’
History beckons for both colts, who will try to give Godolphin their first Arc success since Marienbard in 2002.
Adayar has bounced back from the problem which caused him to miss his prep race
If Adayar wins, he will join the great Mill Reef (1971) and Lammtarra (1995), the only three-year-olds who previously landed the Arc, the Derby at Epsom in June and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July.
Hurricane Lane, ridden by James Doyle, will try to become the first horse to win the St Leger and the Arc in the same season and Appleby admits the two rivals are hard to split.
The trainer, whose only previous Arc runner was the unplaced Ghaiyyath in 2019, believes it is the finishing kick Adayar showed when winning at Epsom and Ascot that prompted the stable’s No1 jockey Buick to
