Cape Cross’s exceptional son Golden Horn had already proved himself the world’s best turf horse this year with victories in the Derby, the Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes but in undoubtedly his best performance yet, he beat a field of the highest class to take the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in truly sensational fashion.
Drawn wide, Golden Horn raced alone down the centre of the track under Frankie Dettori during the early stages of the race, before taking up what proved to be the perfect position behind Treve’s pacemaker Shahah.
Golden Horn took up the running once entering the home straight and setting sail for home, simply could not be caught as he drew clear with consummate ease and eventually won by two lengths from Flintshire. Dubawi's French Derby winner New Bay put up another tremendous performance to finish third.
Trained by John Gosden, who was today celebrating his first success in this coveted race, Golden Horn has now won seven of his eight starts, with his only defeat coming in the G1 Juddmonte International where he was denied by the narrowest of margins.
Owned and bred by Anthony Oppenheimer, Golden Horn is out of Fleche d’Or, a half-sister to Rebecca Sharp.
Golden Horn becomes the second Arc winner for Cape Cross, after Sea The Stars completed a six-race G1-winning streak at Longchamp in 2009.
