Moonlight Cloud continues Arc Day celebration for Head family, Jarnet

Moonlight Cloud continues Arc Day celebration for Head

family, Jarnet

After the Arc, it was almost impossible to imagine

anything taking the shine off the performance of Treve, but Moonlight Cloud did her best to rob some of the limelight

with a dramatic display of acceleration in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret at

Longchamp on Sunday.

For jockey Thierry Jarnet,

this masterclass of timing and steely nerve was the icing on the cake during a two-hour spell

that all jockeys dream of. For trainer Freddy Head, the all-too-easy sixth Group 1 success of his

stable star capped a day that the whole Head family will cherish.

Moonlight Cloud just saw out a mile

when adding the Prix Jacques le Marois to her enviable tally of three renewals of the Prix Maurice de Gheest and last year's Prix du Moulin when the public was last allowed

to enjoy her at Deauville on August 11. The bay daughter of Invincible Spirit was more within her comfort zone dropping

back a panel in the seven-furlong Foret, but there were bullish noises about last year's winner Gordon Lord Byron.

Jarnet had either missed them or chose to dismiss them, as he was happy to

allow that recent Haydock Sprint Cup hero considerable rope throughout and had more than

five lengths still to make up with 300 meters to race. In a burst of pace rarely

seen in the closing stages of Group 1 races, Moonlight Cloud had the result wrapped up a furlong later, and

the George Strawbridge homebred was coasting at the line.

"She is truly exceptional," Head enthused. "There are no

words left to describe her anymore -- she is something out of this world. I always say to Thierry

after each run that he got there too soon and he's just said to me, 'I got there too soon again'

but he gave her the perfect ride and let her do her own thing."

Though Moonlight Cloud earned an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Mile,

a race she finished eighth in last year, Head wasn't too keen on a return trip

stateside.

"I am not certain I want to take

her back to the Breeders' Cup after last year, so it is more probable that she will go straight

to the (Group 1) Hong Kong Mile (at Sha Tin on December 8)," he said.

Strawbridge spent 500,000 guineas to acquire Moonlight Cloud's dam, Ventura, as a broodmare prospect at the Tattersalls December sale in

2001. Ventura is a granddaughter of Doff the Derby, a half-sister to Arc winner

Treve's ancestress Trillion who established her own dynasty in Europe.

Doff the Derby is the dam of Epsom and Irish Derby hero Generous as well as Epsom Oaks

and Irish One Thousand Guineas victress Imagine, who would go on herself to foal

Group 1 winner Horatio Nelson.

While Soumillon missed in the Arc aboard Orfevre, the French champion rider

got the win one race earlier aboard Dalkala in the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera for

trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre.

The four-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway had been freshened up for this below-par renewal

since mid-August and was settled in

fifth early by Soumillon while tracking the prominently ridden

Tasaday. Dalkala allowed that rival first run with a quarter-mile remaining

and ground her down in the very last stride as Thistle Bird finished strongly.

"We kept her for

this and last time she was ridden a bit too aggressively, so today with the ground the way it is we

decided to hold her up and it made the difference," de Royer-Dupre said of

the winner, who was providing His Highness The Aga Khan with an outright record of four

renewals.

"I doubt she will run again, but you never know."

Thistle Bird's trainer Roger Charlton

added, "I'm so proud of her. James (Doyle) said if they had gone one stride faster she would

have finished closer. She is retired now and we are very happy."

Dalkala had been to this meeting last term and was

successful on the Saturday card when making all in the Prix de Royallieu over 1 9/16 miles, but she had her

stamina stretched beyond its limit subsequently when off the board in the Prix Royal-Oak

back here later in October. Returning to be fourth in the Prix d'Harcourt over this track and trip

on April 7, the

dark bay was sent to York to annex the May 16 Middleton and that

form received a boost the following month when the runner-up

Ambivalent captured the Pretty Polly S.

Only ninth back over 1 1/2 miles for the June 23 Grand Prix de

Saint-Cloud, The Aga Khan homebred was third under positive tactics in Deauville's Prix Jean Romanet reverting to this trip when last seen

on August 18.

The late Stavros Niarchos enjoyed success in Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in 1990 with Hector Protector and the same silks also prevailed eight years later with Way of

Light before Karakontie gave the operation a third renewal and also hope for the upcoming

classics on Sunday.

The homebred son of Bernstein enjoyed a perfect stalking

trip in third against the inner under Stephane Pasquier as Noozhoh

Canarias tended to over-race in front. Wearing down that long-time

leader with a furlong remaining, he was game in the run as the Spanish

raider rallied.

"I always thought he was good and he proved that

today," trainer Jonathan Pease said. "He had to grind it out and I thought he had a

bit more brilliance than that, but he won. He has a huge stride and had the perfect trip. I think

we will put him away now for the season."

"This is an

international story, as his granddam, who is a daughter of Miesque, was born in Japan and so was

he as his dam was sent there to visit Bago in foal to Bernstein," racing manager

Alan Cooper added.

Karakontie advertised his class in his first start when getting the better of subsequent Prix des Chenes winner Ectot over

Sunday's seven-furlong trip at Compiegne at the beginning of July before finishing a

short-head second to the highly regarded Bunker in Deauville's Prix Francois Boutin

on August

11. He regained the winning thread in the Prix la Rochette over this

track and trip last out on September 8.

Ignored by the punters who believed that she was

merely a second string for the Wertheimers behind Royalmania, Indonesienne upstaged some fillies of much greater repute

in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac to provide her owners-breeders with back-to-back renewals.

Settled by Flavien Prat with

three behind early including the labored Royalmania in last, Indonesienne had

five lengths to make up on the front-running Lesstalk In Paris with a

quarter-mile to race. Delivered with a withering run down the outer, the

Muhtathir juvenile filly steadily reeled in that enterprisingly ridden rival in the final 50

meters.

"She is a sweet filly who I have always liked and she was very

impressive first time out," trainer Christophe Ferland stated. "I

had doubts when she was only second next time, but it turns out that

she was beaten by a very good one and that boosted my confidence.

Impressive in winning her debut

over Sunday's one-mile trip at La Teste de Buch at the end of July, the bay was put in her place by

subsequent Oh So Sharp winner Miss France in a Chantilly conditions event a

month later while again going a mile.

"I

have to thank the owners for letting her take her chance and she

will be put away for the season now and hopefully be a classic prospect

next year," Ferland added.

Connections of Lesstalk in Paris were left ruing their luck afterward.

"It was not the plan to make all, as she is better with some cover as she showed last time," owner

Ecurie Jean-Louis Tepper explained. "She broke well and the rider wanted a good

position, so she ended up doing too much and the fact that she hung on for second shows how

good she is."

Maarek got the stakes action underway at Longchamp on Sunday in the Group 1

Prix de l'Abbaye when niggled along toward the rear as the lead proved hotly

contested through the first quarter-mile. The Irish invader was under

pressure, but making progress in midfield as Catcall cantered in behind the pacesetters.

With the home runner taking over with 150 yards to race, Maarek was galvanized by Declan McDonogh

and conjured his familiar turbo-charged finish to get up in the shadow of the post.

"They went very fast, but I got a lovely lead off the horse that was second and he's very,

very game," McDonogh said. "He loves soft ground and came into his own on the last 100

meters. They've done a great job with him and he'll go back to Ascot with a great chance."

Maarek was highly progressive over his favored soft

ground last year, notching a personal best when he won the British Champions Sprint at

Ascot in October, and he kicked off 2013 in the same vein with a comfortable score in the

April 20 Woodlands at Naas. Fifth from an unfavorable draw in the Duke of York

on May 15, the bay son of Pivotal was only second as the

4-11 chalk in the June 16 Midsummer Sprint at Cork and

put in a further tepid display when ninth on fast ground in the June 2 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot.

Moved from David Nagle's

barn to Barry Lalor, he started off inauspiciously for his new

stable when only 11th in the Renaissance at The Curragh, but regained

his best form when finishing strongly to annex the Dubai

International Airport World Trophy at Newbury over Sunday's five-furlong trip last

out on September 21.

"This is a dream come true," Lalor said. "Ever since I was a boy, I have watched the Arc

meeting and this is my favorite race, so it's unbelievable to win it. I have to especially thank my

assistant Evanna McCutcheon, who is the daughter of the owner and has been around Maarek for

years and has done a fantastic job with him.

"He loves the soft, but you couldn't be confident

as he needs to be held up and come from behind. He will definitely go to Ascot now for

the (Group 2) British Champions Sprint S. (on October 19) that he won last year."

Catcall's owner Gerard Samama said, "Maybe he was in front a little too soon,

but the jockey said he was forced to as the one in front stopped. This is a nice

celebration in my 50th year as an owner."

Altano was

positioned close over the extended 2 1/2-mile trip in the Group 1 Prix du Cadran by Eduardo Pedroza and

bowled along in midpack as Les Beaufs took up his

customary front-running role. In fourth and traveling easily entering the false straight,

the Galileo seven-year-old was asked the question at the top of the stretch as Tac de

Boistron loomed upsides on the bridle, and had duly overhauled that

rival by the eighth-pole before grinding him into submission on the run

to the line.

For trainer Andreas Wohler, the win was some consolation for

having to scratch Novellist from the Arc.

"It

was a little bit hard coming here today knowing that Novellist was a non-runner,

but the Cadran is a Group 1 race and nice to win," he said. "Eduardo gave him a beautiful

ride and he is a fighter, so when the other horse came to him he took off again."

Successful in the 2011 St Leger Italiano and last year's Deutsches St Leger, Altano had marked his seasonal bow with a second consecutive win

in the May 19 Oleander-Rennen going two miles at Hoppegarten,

earning a trip to Royal Ascot in the process. In the event of the

June 20 Gold Cup, the bay finished strongest of all to be fifth having

given the principals a considerable head start, and was staying on

too late once more when third in the August 1 Goodwood Cup. He found things

happening too quickly again when fifth in the latest renewal of the Deutsches St Leger at Dortmund last

out on September 8.

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