PAT EDDERY’S THREE CONSECUTIVE SUCCESSES AT THE PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE – SportHistoria

Pat Eddery riding Dancing Brave at the start of the Arc de Triomphe 1986 – from:twitter.com

Article by Giovanni Manenti

Just as in In football, we usually discuss the skill of a winning coach compared to the value of the teams he coaches – and, not surprisingly, “they make history” the 1985 Scudetti of Osvaldo Bagnoli’s Verona or the 1991 of Vujadin Boskov’s Sampdoria, not to mention the “Miracle Leicester” that Claudio Ranieri led to the 2016 Premier League title – in the same way it is about how much more important the jockey is than the horse he rides, as far as horse racing is concerned…

And, in this last case which also represents the subject of our story, it is logical that winning jockeys first demonstrate their abilities in order to then aspire to ride the best horses, as for example in the case of “legendary” Lester Piggott, to whom the Queen of England’s steeds were entrustedlike ours Lanfranco “Frankie” Dettorifirst riding of the Sheikh al Makthoum’s horses.

Nonetheless, if other jockeys manage to establish themselves despite not riding absolute level thoroughbreds, this means that “something good” they are also capable of combining them too, as is the case of the protagonist of our story today who, moreover, is anything but a second rate jockey…

Born in fact on 18 March 1952 in Newbridge, Ireland, Pat Eddery can, rightly, be considered one of the best jockeys of the Second World Warjust think about the mere fact of having won it on 11 occasions the “Champion Jockey”i.e. the prize reserved for the person who achieves the most victories in a season (regardless of the value of the races), which he won consecutively from 1974 to 1977 and then in 1986 and for another four-year period (1988-’91) before the last two victories in 1993 and 1996.

Results obtained, mind you, in a period in which the most prestigious racecourses have colleagues such as, in addition to the aforementioned Piggott, Willie Carson, Joe Mercer, Steve Cauthen, Walter Swinburn ed Yves Saint-Martinjust to mention a few, plus the emergence of Dettori in the final part of his career…

The difference is that Eddery was never given the opportunity to ride authentic legends of world gallop such as Mill Reef, The Minstrel, Alleged o Lammtarrabut nevertheless in his own Palmarès include re affirmations in the “2000 Ghinee”, as many in the Epsom Derby, as well as four victories in the “St. Leger Stakes”or the three races that contribute to forming the “Triple Crown” of the United Kingdom, if a horse wins them in the same year, the last to succeed in such a feat was Nijinski in 1970, with Piggott in the saddle.

Nonetheless, Pat Eddery was the first to set a record which was then equaled 10 years laterthat is, to conquer for three consecutive years the coveted “Price of the Arc de Triomphe”a race which takes place on the first Sunday of October at the Longchamp Hippodrome in Paris and which, not surprisingly, the transalpine cousins, with their traditional chauvinism, consider the most prestigious in the world, so much so that they have coined, starting from 2003 edition, the slogan “It’s not a race, it’s a monument…!!”, making any type of translation useless…

French race which, moreover, Pat Eddery won for the first time in 1980, leading the three-year-old Detroit first to the finish line (the race is open to horses of three years or more…) ahead of Argument by half a length, in turn threatened by Ela-Mana-Mou, ridden by Willie Carson and fresh from having won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes .

An appointment, that of Longchamp, which sees the Irish jockey always at the start even in the following four years, even though the best placing is fifth place obtained in 1983 riding Salmon Leap, in the race won by the All Along/Swinburn duo preceding Sun Princess ridden by Willie Carson, the latter a jockey whose enviable Palmarès is missing the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe…

For Eddery, vice versa, the “Seasons of Glory” are about to begin, even if what happens Sunday 6 October 1985 on the 2400 m of the Parisian racecourse cannot represent the maximum satisfaction for every self-respecting jockey, in the sense that in an exciting head-to-head with the winner of the previous edition Sagace (ridden by Eric Legrix instead of Saint-Martin…) and who took a good edge on the rope, here it is the Irish jockey launches his four-year-old Rainbow Quest in pursuit which closes the gap a few dozen meters from the finish line, only to be rejected by his opponent with a maneuver which sees Sagace discard towards the outside and which is judged irregular by the Jury with consequent relegation and awarding of the victory to Rainbow Quest.

Legrix’s move appeared to be at the limit of what is permitted and, in these cases, it is necessary to leave it to the judges’ verdict, but for Eddery there can only be one possibility to assert his superiority, that is try again the following year, when he is riding Dancing Braveperhaps one of the best horses ridden in his career, which is already in season awarded the 2000 Guineas and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakesso as to present himself at Longchamp in the role of favourite, despite very respectable competition, first of all Shahrastani, owned by the Aga Khan, established itself at the beginning of June nel Epsom Derby…

In this gara, Shahrastani had preceded Dancing Brave by half a length, however with Greville Starkey in the saddle – who had also led him to victory in the 2000 Guineas – while this time the leadership is returned to Eddery with whom the three-year-old from Kentucky had won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and therefore the race that takes place Sunday 5 October 1986 attracts the maximum attention of enthusiasts and professionals.

And the race did not disappoint expectations, conducted in record time and impressive Eddery’s masterpiece which, after entering the straight, the favorites widen to create a very uncertain sprintlaunches his Dancing Brave off everyone for go on to triumph with a length and a half advantage over Bering who precedes Triptych at the photo finish and a very disappointed Shahrastaniadding to the success the time of 2’27”7 which improves the limit set in 1980 by Detroit still with Eddery in the saddle…

At this point, to enter the History of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Eddery just has to complete the task of achieving a trio of consecutive successes, a feat never achieved by any jockey until now and, the following year, when the race was held Sunday 4 October 1987trying more than anyone else to hinder this attempt, the four-year-old Italian arrives in the French capital Tony Bin, owned by Luciano Gaucci and which caused a massacre in the Bel Paese this season, winning the President of the Republic Award, the Milan Grand Prix and the Jockey Club Grand Prix.

A very respectable opponent, therefore, for the Irish jockey and his Trempolino, a three-year-old who had only achieved good placings during the season (second at the Prix du Jockey Club held in Chantilly and two third places at the Grand Prix de Paris and the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano…), although had achieved his first Group 1 victory at Longchamp affermandosi nel Prix de Courcelles …

In sella a Tony Bin is the American jockey Cash Asmussenwhile the now five-year-old is still in the game Triptych, edited by Tony Cruz and which also had its best year in 1987winning the Coronation Cup among others, for a challenge that is expected to be as exciting as ever.

Expectations that are dashed by the outcome of the race, which he sees Trempolino faced the home stretch even in last position and then, as soon as the pace increases, wedge in a gap in the center of the group taking the other favorites by surprise and when Asmussen launches Tony Bin in pursuit it is now too late and Pat Eddery takes his “fantastic trio” easilywith a two-length margin on Gaucci’s bearer and three on Triptych who thus replicates the third coin of the previous edition…

For the 35-year-old Irish jockey it is the definitive consecration, with the fourth overall victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe equals a similar feat achieved until then only by Jacques Doyasbère (1942, 1944 e 1950-’51), Freddy Head (1966, 1972, 1976 and 1979) and da Yves Saint-Martin (1970, 1974, 1982 and 1984), but none of them can boast three consecutive successes.

As already mentioned, the only one so far to emulate Eddery was, 10 years later, Olivier Peslier, who won in the three-year period 1996-’98, and then added a fourth victory in 2012while it holds the absolute record Lanfranco Dettori, capable of bringing one of his horses to cross the finish line first on six occasionsthe last of which in 2015 with Golden Horn and in the two-year period 2017-’18 riding Enable…

But this, Pat Eddery never knew, died of a heart attack on 10 November 2015 at the age of 63, having also been battling the scourge of alcoholism for some timehowever leaving in all those who knew and admired him the memory of one of the greatest interpreters of modern horse racing…

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2023-10-14 18:00:55
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