French Derby hero Ace Impact currently heads the market for next month’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; Bay Bridge rates a big price to win for Sir Michael Stoute, having taken the September Stakes last time out; watch the Weekend Winners digital show on YouTube
At The Races pundit Declan Rix is taking a swing at a Sir Michael Stoute-trained five-year-old who could line up in next month’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The three-year-old star Ace Impact currently heads the market at 7/2 after French Derby success, with the likes of Hukum and Westover also towards the head of the betting.
But with the race having a wide-open feel at this stage, Rix has taken aim at Bay Bridge, who stepped up in trip with victory in the September Stakes at Kempton last time out.
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And with that stamina now guaranteed as well as the Group One speed over ten furlongs, he could go well at a big price.
“He’s already won a Champion Stakes and they will try to win an Arc now,” Rix told the Weekend Winners digital show.
“As a five-year-old, he’s a bigger, stronger horse and he rarely gets his conditions. I think he needs genuine give in the ground to show his absolute best.
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“Last time out on a kinder surface at Kempton on the all-weather over 12 furlongs, I thought he was brilliant.
“Candleford is a good, solid yardstick and has been in good order recently and he beat him stiff showing that he stayed the trip well in a decent time.
“He’s by New Bay who was placed in an Arc once upon a time and although his dam was a sprinter over six furlongs, if you go further back through the pedigree it’s from a strong Aga Khan middle distance line.
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“He’s unexposed over the trip. Finally he gets some cut in the ground and could show his best.
“There’s not a lot of pace this year and if we got a tactical running of the Arc and he’d sit in the first three or four, you are hoping that pace over ten furlongs should see him challenge.”
