What We Learned From The Weekend - 05/11/2018

Enable Arc

What We Learned From The Weekend - 05/11/2018

Enable, the Queen of Europe, will go down in history as one of the greatest horses - let-alone fillies, after another almighty success, this time in the Breeders Cup Turf on Saturday night.

A daughter of Nathaniel, she won the Arc for a second year in a row last month, having had an injury hit campaign. That was her first run on the turf in twelve months, and the confidence was oozing around trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori, as she arrived at Churchill Downs fit and fresh.

The Aiden O'Brien trained Magical - won the Fillies and Mares contest on British Champions Day, took Enable all the way to the line, but Enable's class shone through to claim a seventh Group 1. She also made history, becoming the first Arc winner to follow up at the Breeders Cup meeting, something that the likes of Dancing Brave, Golden Horn and Found could not match.

In the feature, Accelerate claimed a first Breeders Cup Classic success for trainer John Sadler. As usual, the Brit's were not successful, but can take credit from Thunder Snow finishing third - under a strong drive from Christophe Soumillion which made the morning news for the wrong reasons, and Mendelssohn back in fifth.

The debate on the whip seems to have come up yet again, with the disturbing images of Soumillion striking the Dubai World Cup winner as many as 18 times on the straight, and a review has been called into place.

Elsewhere at Churchill Downs, Expert Eye capped off a much better year after disappointing in last year's Dewhurst, by landing the Mile contest - now naming him the favourite for the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot next summer. And Wild Illusion, for Charlie Appleby and William Buick, was just denied by Sistercharlie and John Velazquez in the Filly & Mare Turf.

Back in Britain, the jump's season continued with the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, which was taken by Definitly Red (purposely mis-spelt). Black Corton finished in second - who was lucky to finish having nearly unshipped Bryony Frost at the third fence. Virgilio was in third and was the last finish, with Double Shuffle falling at the very first fence.

Half an hour before, Lady Buttons landed the Listed Mares' Hurdle, repaying her connections trust for switching her back to hurdles from fences.