In the last 50 years, how many horses aged five or older have won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe?
The short answer is not many and, granted the highly commercialised nature of modern equine breeding, that should come as no real surprise. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe may be, by some way, the most valuable race run in Europe, but even a prize fund of €5 million pales into insignificance when compared with potential earnings, especially for stallions, in the multimillion-pound breeding industry. It makes economic sense for top-class thoroughbreds – the pick of the middle-distance division included – to be retired to stud at the peak of their careers, as three-year-olds or, at the latest, as four-year-olds.
At the time of writing, in 50 runnings of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe since 1974, the roll of honour comprises 27 three-year-olds, 18 four-year-olds and just five five-year-olds. No horse aged older than five has won since the seven-year-old Matrico, way back in 1932. For the record, the five-year-old winners in the last 50 years were Star Appeal, trained by Theo Grieper and ridden by Greville Starkey, in 1975, Tony Bin, trained by Luigi Camici and ridden by John Reid, in 1988, Marienbard, trained by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Frankie Dettori, in 2002, Waldgeist, trained by André Fabre and ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, in 2019 and, most recently, Alpinista, trained by Sir Mark Prescott and ridden by Luke Morris. Interestingly, of that quintet, Alpinista was the only mare.
At the time of writing, former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon “Baz” McCullum, has recently made headlines again. On September 3, 2024, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that McCullum would officially be taking over as head coach of the England men’s white-ball or, in other words, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20), teams, replacing the previous incumbent Matthew Mott. Mott was originally appointed as white-ball coach in May 2022, at the same time McCullum assumed red-ball duties, but failed to improve England’s record, in either format, and was dismissed in late July 2024.
For the uninitiated, “The Hundred” is an annual, 100-ball cricket tournament run by and, until recently, funded by, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It is a fairly recent addition to the cricketing calendar, having first been staged in 2021, and involves eight, purpose-built franchises, based at major venues around the country. Competition, for both men’s and women’s teams, takes place over a five-week period during the school summer holidays, with matches held at the same venue on the same day.
Known locally as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is run over 3,200 metres, or just shy of two miles in imperial measurements, at Flemington Racecourse, on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne, Victoria, on the first Tuesday in November. The race was established in 1861 by the Victorian Turf Club, which, three years later, merged with the competing Victorian Turf Club to form the modern body, the Victoria Racing Club. Nowadays, the Melbourne Cup, which boasts A$8 million in total prize money – of which A$4.4 million goes to the winner – has the distinction of being the most valuable handicap on the whole.