We are at the time of the flat season where the champions are crowned. And the new stallions soon off to stud to create the next generation.

It’s two weeks after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe where the four-year-old colt Daryz dazzled in winning the great race for a second time and we are on the eve of the British Champions Day where the same ownership provide one of the stars, in the five-year-old gelding Calandagan.

In between, the Tattersalls Newmarket Sales fill the headlines, where the progeny of the top sires are up for grabs before heading into training, hopefully to end up with their sights set on those same big Group 1 prizes on the track.

The recent decision to allow geldings run in the Arc has brought differences of opinions.

The Arc is over 100 years old, and has had a wide range of winners. Daryz was a short-priced favourite this year, the five-year-old Torquator Tasso was 70/1 when he won in 2021.

Very many of the three-year-olds that have been successful were tip top horses. Memorable wins for Ribot, Sea-Bird, Mill Reef, Alleged, Montjeu, Dancing Brave and Sea The Stars. And mixed in too were great female racehorses such as Zarkava, Treve and Enable. It’s had a diverse range of winners.

With the week that is in it, many old runnings of the QEII and Champion Stakes have been shared on social media and racing sites. One stood out for its novelty at the time, when - in 1984 - the gelding Teleprompter became a star, winning the QEII. It was rare then to see a gelding win a top-class group race.

Given momentum

We have seen many more geldings in action at the top level in recent years, especially over longer distances. This has no doubt given momentum to the 'open the Arc' argument. Calandagan led the way and Rebel’s Romance has also stood out. The argument is that the best horses should be allowed race in all the top races.

But the gelded Calandagan became the best horse in the world without running in the Arc. His King George, Champion Stakes and Japan Cup wins helped him secure that title last season. And separately, the Arc produced a high class three-year-old winner, now a dual winner and with a stud career set for him.

Of course, America has had geldings as Horses of the Year, (John Henry, Wise Dan) but mainly on turf, not on their main dirt surface that produces their next sires.

Coolmore have publicly opposed the decision to open the Arc to geldings and posted a statement last week on X under the headline ‘Protect the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe’: “One of the world’s most prestigious races, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has a unique place in the international racing and breeding industry.”

“A petition has been launched opposing proposals to open the race to geldings, seeking to preserve its tradition, prestige and importance to the future of thoroughbred breeding.”

Tom Segal of the Racing Post also argued that racing “should also be a test of temperament, so ask yourself this: why are horses gelded in the first place? Most flat horses are gelded because they're hard to train.”

Speaking earlier this year on Luck on Sunday, trainer Hugo Palmer argued that – with the Arc often run on soft to heavy going - geldings had an advantage because they were lighter than entire horses and could handle softer ground conditions better. “If the Arc was won by an eight-year-old gelding, it’s going to be a really depressing race," he added.

Princess Zahra, owner of Calandagan and Daryz, gave plenty of details on the background and training of those two Aga Khan-bred horses in her extensive interview with Amy Lynam for this paper back in May.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH PRINCESS ZAHRA HERE

My random look back at British Champions Day winners paused at the 2020 running. What was the standout horse or win? All four open races were won by geldings. Anyone remember who won the QEII without looking it up?

The winners were four-year-old Trueshan in the Stayers, six-year-old Glen Sheil in the Sprint, five-year-old The Revenant in the QEII, and the six-year-old Addeybb. A cast of geldings.

Not exactly ‘depressing’ but would those horses continue to ‘sell’ racing to a wider public?

Protect the middle distance

But we need to protect the middle distance three-year-olds and make sure there are top quality horses who appeal to breeders going to stud.

The Champion Stakes, two weeks after the Arc, and the Breeders' Cup are there to provide enough opportunities for geldings – just as they have been for decades. Calandagan didn’t need the Arc, but perhaps racing does.

Yes, the Arc has not always provided a top three- or indeed four-year-old colt but we don’t need to be limiting the options and opportunities for good young middle-distance horses to make an impression on future breeders.

The current top 15 sires in Europe feature only five living sires who had won over a mile and two or further on the track. Sea The Stars, Frankel, New Bay, Lope De Vega and Camelot, though Dubawi is also considered a ‘middle distance sire’. At 14, New Bay is the youngest of them. A few more would be desirable to counteract so many ‘speed’ sires among the recent crops.

Of the 17 lots who made a million or more at Tattersalls Book I, apart from Frankel, only the US-based Justify and Ghaiyyath were the sires who had won at further than a mile.

Well handled

Daryz’s four-year-old career has been well handled, dropping a son of Sea The Stars back in distance to win the nine-furlong Group 1 Prix Aga Khan IV (Prix d'Ispahan).

Yes, you can say that the best should meet the best but does it really have to be in the Arc? More so, do we not need a range of Group 1-winning three and four-year-olds over further than a mile going to stud.

Godolphin regularly geld some very well-bred horses. Rebel’s Romance’s brother Fortitudine was gelded before he even made the racetrack.

Dare we say it’s becoming more fashionable now where as once it was rarer and those horses were considered temperamental or perhaps deficient in some way?

The less often geldings are excluded from top races, the more of them there will be. It’s not as if they lack opportunities.

There is a saying that would eliminate so much of the current 'do this, don’t do that' debates on so many issues across the world. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There’s no real evidence that keeping geldings out of the Arc has had any negative effects. Opening it up might have. So let things be.