Torquator Tasso Climbs The Ladder in Longines WBRR

By virtue of his stunning upset in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp Oct. 3, Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) now shares fourth position with Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the latest Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, which were published Oct. 14.

The Marcel Weiss-trained 4-year-old was given a rating of 125 for his 71-1 upset of Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) (120) in the Paris feature. Farther behind in third was Godolphin's G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 St Leger hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who sits on 123, while his G1 Cazoo Derby and G1 King George & Queen Elizabeth S.-winning stablemate Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was three lengths adrift in fourth. On 127, Adayar remains the joint-highest ranking horse on the WBRR alongside Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB})–whom he is set to face in Saturday's G1 QIPCO Champion S. at Ascot–and St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}).

Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) got underfoot conditions to suit in the Oct. 2 Qatar Prix du Cadran and easily defeated Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to be newly rated on 120 in the WBRR. The two rivals are drawn alongside each other in barriers nine and 10 for Satuday's G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup over two miles.

Knicks Go (Paynter), who will vie for favoritism in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 6, remains the top-rated American galloper on 124–tied for sixth with Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus})–and is one point superior to GI Kentucky Derby first past the post Medina Spirit (Protonico), who is ranked 123 following a comprehensive defeat of his elders in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita Oct. 2. Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) has been assigned a rating of 121 for his victory over Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the GI Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 25.

The next edition of the Longines WBRR is due Thursday, Nov. 11.

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Arc Hero Torquator Tasso Enters Reckoning For Cartier Awards

Torquator Tasso caused one of the biggest shocks in the history of the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday, Oct. 3, a victory that saw the German colt enter calculations for both Cartier Horse Of The Year and Cartier Older Horse.

The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards – the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.

The 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards will be awarded in November. Cartier continues its ongoing support with the presentation of the Cartier Racing Awards.

Owned by Gestut Auenquelle, 4-year-old Torquator Tasso (96 points) emulated Star Appeal (1975) and Danedream (2011) by becoming the third German-trained winner of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the 100th running of the €5 million showpiece.

The Marcel Weiss-trained son of Adlerflug defeated Tarnawa (56), Hurricane Lane (152) and Adayar (100) in a thrilling finish to the highlight of two exceptional days of racing in Paris.

In terms of the Cartier Horse Of The Year standings, the Aidan O'Brien-trained St Mark's Basilica (160) remains in pole position. The Siyouni colt, who captured his fourth G1 prize of the season in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on September 11, was retired to take up stallion duties at Coolmore last month.

Poetic Flare finished a creditable third at Leopardstown and the dual G1 winner is hot on the heels of St Mark's Basilica with 156 points. Godolphin's Hurricane Lane now has 152 points following his third in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Palace Pier (144) heads the Cartier Older Horse category with 144 points and is set to take in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II QIPCO Stakes at Ascot later this month as he looks to remain unbeaten this term. He leads Mishriff (108), with Torquator Tasso (96) third.

St Mark's Basilica (160) and Poetic Flare (156) continue to set the pace in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category ahead of Godolphin duo Hurricane Lane (152) and Adayar (100), who both emerged with plenty of credit following their third and fourth-placed efforts in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Mother Earth (144) leads the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly standings following her second behind the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Saffron Beach (68) in the G1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on October 2. Snowfall finished sixth in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the English and Irish Oaks heroine has 136 points.

A Case Of You (58) is the big mover in the Cartier Sprinter division after providing trainer Adrian McGuinness with a first G1 triumph in the Qatar Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. G1 Darley July Cup hero Starman leads the way on 64 points.

The Alan King-trained Trueshan (68 points) is the new leader in the Cartier Stayer category, having powered to a second G1 victory in the Qatar Prix du Cadran on October 2. The five-year-old, who is owned by the Singula Partnership, defeated old rival and four-time Cartier Stayer Stradivarius (58 points) by four and a half lengths at Longchamp.

Arc weekend also saw a shake-up in the Cartier Two-Year-Old categories with Angel Bleu (48) emerging as a contender for the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt award. Trained by Ralph Beckett, Angel Bleu landed the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere under Frankie Dettori and is chasing Perfect Power (80), winner of the G1 Darley Prix Morny and G1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes for Richard Fahey.

There is a three-way tie at the top of the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly standings following Zellie's stylish success in the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac for Andre Fabre. The Al Wasmiyah Farm-owned filly has 40 points along with Joseph O'Brien's Agartha, who filled fourth behind Zellie at Longchamp, and Sandrine for Andrew Balding.

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German Runner Torquator Tasso Shocks In Arc With 71-1 Odds, Gutsy Closing Kick

The 100th edition of the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe belonged to German contender Torquator Tasso, who stunned horseplayers at odds of 71-1. The race was the first time rider Rene Piechulek had contested the Arc, and gave trainer Marcel Weiss his first win in the race. Weiss hung out his shingle just two years ago.

Heavy rains in Paris Saturday night changed the going of the turf to the advantage of the 4-year-old colt, who sat well off the early pace and closed through the Longchamp stretch, hitting his best gear in the very last furlong, passing Tarnawa and Hurricane Lane just before the wire. Adayar was fourth.

The win was the third for a German horse in the Arc, after Danedream in 2011 and Star Appeal in 1975.

Torquator Tasso was Horse of the Year in his native Germany last year, and prepped for the Arc with a winning effort in the Grosser Preis von Baden last month.

“I have no words. I can't believe I won,” Weiss told French media. “I started to think about the Arc during the winter because it had already shown class at three years old. He behaved very well this year, winning a Group 2 and a Group 1. But given the range of this 100th edition, we would have already been delighted to be fourth or fifth. The terrain helped him. He was able to attack on the outside as we had planned. I have been training for two years in Mulheim (Germany) but I have been working for Gestüt Auenquelle for many years. The owners of Torquator Tasso have turned down important offers for the horse and I am delighted to be able to train him. He's a star. We will discuss next week his future program, which will perhaps pass through Japan.”

The Arc, contested at 1 1/2 miles, is a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Turf. Though it remains unclear whether Torquator Tasso will come to Del Mar for the race, Racing Post reported that Tarnawa, last year's winner, could return to defend her title.

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Red-Hot Charlie Appleby Talks Arc, Breeders’ Cup On Writers’ Room

It takes a lot for a European trainer to become the biggest story in North American racing, but that's exactly what Charlie Appleby has accomplished, among many other things, this year. Capturing three of the four Grade I races at Woodbine plus the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont last weekend to follow up several other successful raids of top-level events in the U.S. this summer, Appleby has quite simply taken the racing world by storm at just 46 years old. Wednesday, during a short break from shopping the Goffs Orby Sale in Ireland, Appleby joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about his whirlwind year, his contenders for the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Breeders' Cup and all the history he is still trying to make.

Asked about this weekend's Arc, where he has two of the top contenders in standout 3-year-olds Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Appleby, calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week said, “Adayar won the [Epsom] Derby and went on to win the King George, the first horse since Galileo to do so. We met with a minor setback in preparation for a trial [for the Arc], which was always annoying, you don't want to have a setback at any stage, but I told myself during that point, no horse has actually won the Arc trial and gone on to win an Arc, so I took it as a positive that someone was telling me not to go. Subsequently since then, he's not missed a beat and he couldn't afford to miss a beat either. So he looks great, and he's the best horse in the race. Hurricane Lane is a rock-solid horse, he's won an Irish Derby, a Grand Prix de Paris and a St. Leger. No horse has won a St. Leger and gone on to win an Arc. So along with the excitement of running in the 100th Arc, there's the potential to create history with Hurricane Lane. We don't look back on history, we try to make history. So we'll have a crack at it.”

Appleby also discussed his upbringing in racing and the wealth of experience he accrued that has allowed for his unprecedented success in recent years, saying, “I was brought up in the west country of England. You become more hands-on down there in dealing with the horses. From there, I moved up the country and went to my first stable in Newmarket with [11-time British champion jockey] Lester Piggott. In terms of racing knowledge, I don't think I could have been in better hands. I spent a lot of time watching racing with Lester and the great [trainer] Barney Curley. I learned how to read a race out there and understand the styles of racing and the pace of a race. Then I went on to David Loder's yard, which was a force to be reckoned with in the '90s and 2000s, where I learned a lot about 2-year-olds, how far to push them and what we needed to achieve to get them to Group 1 status. Then I joined Godolphin at the age of 19 or 20 and from then on have been very lucky. I've had a management position throughout my whole career in Godolphin. It allowed me to travel worldwide and go overseas. I spent a lot of time at Arlington and Belmont. It allows you to meet people out there who I never normally would have met in the racing world. You see these entrepreneurs and they influence you, you get a buzz, and you learn how they strive for success. It gets instilled in you in a way. So 'can't' isn't in our vocabulary. We strive to achieve, and if it doesn't happen, we take the positives out of it and move on. The negatives are brushed aside.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Spendthrift Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to the news of Arlington Park's official sale to the Chicago Bears, lamented the case of a horse who shouldn't have been allowed to race at Belterra Park and looked forward to a massive weekend of racing on both sides of the Atlantic. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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