Colm Greaves: Five things to watch out for in the Arc

Leading owner Masaaki Matsushima has invested in Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa who will now be ridden by Japan’s favourite son, the legendary Yutaka Take. Pic: Healy Racing

Big in Japan

The Japanese racing industry has become increasingly focused on winning their first Arc in recent years and have a strong representation in tomorrow’s contest.

Leading owner Masaaki Matsushima has invested in Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa who will now be ridden by Japan’s favourite son, the legendary Yutaka Take.

Their four-legged interest centres on Shin Emperor, who recently finished a strong third to Economics in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and will carry the hopes, and yen, of a huge and obsessive late Sunday night TV audience back home.

Trending races

Joseph O’Brien never won an Arc as a jockey or as a trainer. But it can only be a matter of time for the world’s most versatile trainer whose 20 wins in the last three weeks has ranged from a beginners’ chase at Sligo and the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh.

He has minded Al Riffa carefully in advance of tomorrow’s race and was last been seen winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin in early August.

The German season’s event showpiece has been a good indicator for Paris recently with Danedream, Torquato Tasso, and Alpinista all victorious before improving to Arc success in their next races.

Irish Champion Stakes

The Irish Champion Stakes has been a poorer indicator than the German showpiece, this year’s winner Economics has been routed elsewhere so it will be up to the placed horses to uphold the honour of our premier all-aged contest.

Los Angeles finished just behind Shin Emperor when fourth at Leopardstown. Surprisingly, Aidan O’Brien has only won the Arc twice, the last time was eight years ago with Found and has never won it with a three-year-old.

Los Angeles has looked more like an oil tanker than a speed boat it and will be interesting if his run in the Irish Champion has sharpened his tactical speed.

Ladies day

Fillies and mares generally punch above well above their weight in the Arc, winning eight of the last 12 renewals. They are not at their maximum strength tomorrow with Ralph Beckett’s four-year-old Bluestocking the shortest in the betting, fifth best at 10-1. It cost her owners, Juddmonte, €120,000 to supplement her for the race which is bound to add a pound or two of pressure for her jockey, Rossa Ryan.

Ryan scored his first Irish Group 1 win on her when she won the Pretty Polly at the Curragh in July. The increasingly influential, and successful, Galway native would be a popular winner.

Gene Pool trifecta

Tomorrow’s race is the first instalment of an ambitious Coolmore trifecta which might have generational ramifications for the future of the sport.

It is all about the gene pool. Since losing Galileo two years ago the Tipperary-based enterprise have watched on as the likes of Frankel and Dubawi have dipped their beaks in the revenue stream that once flowed their way.

If Los Angeles wins tomorrow, he will add significant value to both his own and his sire Camelot’s breeding value. Then next up is City Of Troy in the Breeders’ Cup on dirt in a month where he will try to enhance his Justify bloodline, lucrative to North American breeders.

Auguste Rodin then heads to the Japan Cup at the end of November. A son of the Japanese wonder sire, Deep Impact he would immediately become big in Japan.