Why Australians should be “disappointed” if Verry Elleegant doesn’t “make the mark” in l’Arc
English racing pundit Matt Chapman believes Australians should be “disappointed” if Verry Elleegant doesn’t “make the mark” in next month's Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
A phenomenon in Australia, connections surprised the racing industry in April when deciding to send the wonder mare to continue her career at the stable of Francis-Henri Graffard in Chantilly, France.
With Graffard looking to acclimatise the mare, Verry Elleegant is set to make her first appearance on European soil in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville on August 2.
Whether she races again before the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is yet to be determined, but initial reports suggest she'll run second-up in the l’Arc.
Raced over 2400m, Chapman believes there’s no reason why Verry Elleegant won’t win arguably the world's greatest race.
“There’s no reason why not,” Chapman told Cam Luke on SEN Track.
“She is really good, we know that, and she is really, really good for an Australian middle-distance horse.
“To win a Melbourne Cup, everyone knows that’s very special, you don’t just do that by fluke – she’s a very very talented horse.”
Having won four from four over the 2400m distance, Chapman believes the rivals Verry Elleegant will meet aren’t the top-end talent that we’ve seen in previous editions of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“As we’ve just seen in our mid-summer highlights, our middle-distance horses aren’t the ‘worldies’ that they could be,” Chapman added.
“Our Derby winner is currently injured, and he looked as though he was going to be very special but who knows if he’ll ever race again.
“The six horses who went to the King George on Saturday, four of them were disappointing, one of them needs heavy ground and the other horse won it as a complete outsider.
“There’s not a lot around in the middle-distanced department, to be honest, if I was an Australian, I’d be thinking if she doesn’t make the mark, I’d be pretty disappointed.
“The ground will be the key thing for her, racing in France will see her face more testing ground than she would if she was racing in the UK.
“As I’m sure you’ve heard down under, we had weather down here last week that was hotter than the Sahara Desert and it’s meant to be another mini heat wave in a week’s time so who knows what the ground will necessarily be in France with the crazy conditions around the world.”
Verry Elleegant is currently rated a $17 chance with Sportsbet to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
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