RAIL LINK ON TRACK FOR ARC AFTER NIEL TRIUMPH
Christophe Soumillon completed his clean sweep of the Arc trials
when he partnered Khalid Abdullah's Rail Link to a workmanlike
victory in the Prix Niel, writes Desmond Stoneham.
Although Rail Link was cut to 5-1 and 6-1 (from 8) by William Hill
and VCbet for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Coral and Ladbrokes
were less impressed with the performance, making him an 8-1
chance.
Rail Link was cruising early in the straight, and a furlong and a
half out he looked as if he would draw clear and win by several
lengths. However, at the furlong marker Richard Hughes's mount
Youmzain, who had been redirected from the St Leger, came bustling
along up the far rail, and he made Rail Link pull out all the stops
in the final 100 yards.
The winning distance was half a length, with Sudan running on to
finish third in front of the long-time leader Dragon Dancer and
Papal Bull, who was well up with the pace until dropping out of
contention in the straight.
Trainer Andre Fabre was winning his ninth Niel, but he left the
post-race talking to the owner's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe,
who said: "I must talk with the prince and, all things being equal,
Rail Link will run in the Arc as he did it nicely today.
"He was travelling well throughout and the form was solid. If he
goes for the Arc, his jockey still has to be decided on and we
wouldn't want very soft ground."
Soumillon, who is unlikely to be on board the colt in the Arc, had
to work quite hard on Rail Link in the final stages.
He said: "He should have run in the Jockey-Club, but was late
coming to hand. I think he can now be described as the best
three-year-old colt in Europe. We won fairly easily and he must
have a chance in the Arc de Triomphe."
Date:
11 September 2006