Following her saunter at Kempton over the weekend in the Gr3 September Stakes, trainer John Gosden emphasised the extent to which mental toughness will play a key factor in champion mare Enable’s quest to become the first three-time winner of the Arc.
She missed out on a hattrick when runner-up last year.
Gosden told Thoroughbred Daily News: “I think it (the September Stakes) was probably three-quarters mental and one-quarter physical preparation today. This was as much to mentally let her let a little steam off and chill her and give her 10 days and build her up to the Arc.”
Gosden noted of Enable:
“She is wiser now and a 6yo mare is different to a 3yo filly. She is robust and she does have that mental strength.”
Using an apt tennis analogy, the champion trainer said:“The great tennis players get to that fifth set and when they are two sets all it is mental strength that wins it above anything else.”
Watch the 2019 Arc replay:
On Sunday 4 October the famous ParisLongchamp racecourse will host the most prestigious flat race in the world, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Past Arc winners
| Year | Winner | Jockey |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Waldgeist | Pierre-Charles Boudot |
| 2018 | Enable | Lanfranco Dettori |
| 2017 | Enable | Lanfranco Dettori |
| 2016 | Found | Ryan moore |
| 2015 | Golden Horn | Lanfranco Dettori |
| 2014 | Treve | Thierry jarnet |
| 2013 | Treve | Thierry jarnet |
| 2012 | Solemia | Olivier Peslier |
| 2011 | Danedream | Andrasch Starke |
| 2010 | Workforce | Ryan moore |
| 2009 | Sea the stars | Michael kinane |
| 2008 | Zarkava | Christophe Soumillon |
