Japanese challenger Shin Emperor will fulfil a long-term plan as he bids to emulate his brother Sottsass by winning Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp.
Sottsass was victorious for Jean-Claude Rouget in 2020, and the following August trainer Yoshito Yahagi convinced owner Susumu Fujita to part with €2.1million to recruit his full-brother at the Arqana Sales.
Shin Emperor headed to Japan where he was a Grade Three winner at two and finished third in the Japanese Derby in May before embarking on his European adventure, taking a narrow and highly-creditable third on his prep run in the Irish Champion Stakes.
Yahagi saddled Stay Foolish to finish 14th behind Alpinista in attritional conditions two years ago and with the going predicted to be soft again this weekend, the trainer is confident this year’s contender can handle the ground.
He said: “I knew about the (soft) ground and I brought this horse over to run in this race because his pedigree suggests, as well as how he runs, that he will handle the ground and I think he will run well.
“I came over with Stay Foolish but this time I have more of a chance because the horse is really able to handle the ground. I have won many races but I have never won in Europe. I’ve not won the Arc and it really is the summit of all races and so to win it is not easy.
“If you look it is a very European race, it’s run over a mile and a half and the winners are all European. Maybe the ground has been complicated for us, but that’s why I have brought over this horse.”
Shin Emperor is the latest in a string of Japanese challengers for the Arc, with Through Seven Seas coming home fourth for Tomohito Ozeki last year.
Speed Symboli was the first to try for Japan back in 1969 before the likes of El Condor Pasa, Nakayama Festa and Orfevre hit the bar in more recent years, firing Yahagi’s dream of winning Europe’s premier all-aged middle-distance prize.
Yahagi’s resume includes top-level success across the world with the likes of Panthalassa, winner of the Dubai Turf and the Saudi Cup, Cox Plate hero Lys Gracieux and Breeders’ Cup and Hong Kong heroine Loves Only You.
He underlined the reverence in which the Arc is held in Japan and feels Shin Emperor’s sizeable price tag will be justified if he can realise the aim set out from the moment he signed the sales ticket.
He said: “For the Japanese, this is a very important race, a more and more important race. For 50 years I have been dreaming about this race, it’s been my goal to come here and I’m very emotional that I am now in France and having a runner in this race.
“It was the top price at the sale and when I went there I looked at all the horses but he really stood out, he was just apart from all the other horses so I asked the owner to buy the horse and I’m very, very happy that we did.
“It’s a very difficult race to win but when I bought this horse, I dreamt about bringing him here to France for the Arc. The percentage of doing that and getting to the start is very slim and it’s a miracle that I have been able to bring him here.
“It’s really thanks to my efforts and the owners and jockey that we were able to bring him here, so I have already succeeded in that miracle of bringing him here to France.”
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Asked how his life would be altered should he win the Arc, Yahagi added: “There shouldn’t be too much of a change, but maybe I wouldn’t be able to take my train unbothered!”
Yahagi and big-race rider Ryusei Sakai have already secured one important success this week, with Breeders’ Cup hopeful Forever Young winning the JBC Dirt Classic at Ohi racecourse on Wednesday.
The Kentucky Derby third is on course for a Classic showdown with City Of Troy at Del Mar next month, with Yahagi saying: “Thankfully I won so I could come to France with a light heart and I can now concentrate on the Arc.”
Sakai added: “I was very happy we won on Wednesday – if I had not won that race, I don’t think I would have wanted to get on the plane.”
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