READER, I backed him.

Yes, I might have been one of few viewers who enjoyed the finish of the Arc last Sunday having come to the conclusion that the German raider Torquator Tasso was certainly worth a few euros each-way in the expected conditions.

He might have been available at up to 80/1 but I found all the negative comments in the aftermath of the Arc win a bit hard to comprehend.

It’s a race that has to be assessed on its own record, given the different conditions under which it is often run, compared to the form used when making the market.

The race has a history of throwing the odd shock. Half the field had better form than the winner during the summer. But this was a fresher horse on soft ground. A horse who everyone seemed to forget had his best form when beaten just three-quarters of a length by In Swoop last summer, and that horse went off at 10/1 when beaten a neck in last year’s Arc.

At a guess, very soft ground could shave maybe six lengths of a top-of-the-ground horse’s ability while probably extenuating the stamina of a horse bred like the winner, and you are getting the odds in your favour.

A quick look at sectional times show that only Tarnawa, Hurricane Lane and - just marginally - Snowfall dipped under the 12secs for any of the final four furlongs. Adayar had gone under 12secs for each of the last four furlongs in the Derby at Epsom.

Different tracks and conditions but he ran 13.32secs on Sunday for the final furlong compared to 11.96 at Epsom. Needless to say, I’m happy that under the conditions, there was nothing unworthy about this winner!

And far from quoting Charlotte Bronte, a bit of Shakespere and Much Ado About Nothing was the thought for the week when the debates grew on why the Arc should be moved. After 100 runnings, we need to change something?

Simply daft

The suggestions that the Arc should be moved forward a week are simply daft. The flat season has a set sequence of top races. Move the Arc and do you move the whole meeting? It was only overnight that the ground deteriorated badly. It could be run on the Saturday?

Yes, it has been bad ground recently and a few surprise winners. But it has always been so. Moving it a week earlier knocks out the trials as legitimate warm up races. No Leger winner would line up off a two-week break.

As it is, it fits perfectly after Irish Champions Weekend. And if you want to see a race that has to embrace bad ground, with no brouhaha over a change, take a look at the Prix Jacques le Marois over the last eight years.

Run in Deauville in late August, the end of summer, five out of the last eight runnings have been run on going with soft in the description including one with heavy.

And anyone see anything wrong with the Marois results?

The Arc is also not really a stallion-making race. Three-year-olds have made their reputation by now.

Yes, a winner like Sunday’s may leave a damp taste for some purists but like many things in life, it’s the anticipation that is half the pleasure of a race like this. Having the Arc as the aim and the culmination of the European season just as often brings joyous results; Dancing Brave, Zarkava, Sea The Stars, Golden Horn, Enable – these results are more than worthy of all the anticipation.

I have to agree with James Willoughby’s Thoroughbred Racing Commentary assertions that: “According to the figures, Torquator Tasso peaked while every other runner was not quite at their best.” And “a German horse with toughness and stamina on his side, it is clear (with the benefit of hindsight) that we should all have paid him a little more attention.”

Some of us did!

Jet power rewarded

A TIP of the hat today goes to the Michael O’Callaghan-trained juvenile Twilight Jet who appeared for the 10th time since his debut in mid-May when he won the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket yesterday.

That was seven group race appearances including five trips to Britain.

That’s the equal in six months to what top novice chaser Monkfish (nine runs) has done in his whole life and just one run short of how often we have seen Shishkin and Topofthegame to date!

FOR a race that traditionally provides the champion juvenile and has been won by the likes of El Gran Senor, Zafonic, Frankel, New Approach, Pinatubo and St Mark’s Basilica last year, this year’s Dewhurst looks a bit below par.

Never mind where have all the good young British jumpers gone, where have all the exciting two-year-olds gone? The two Group 1s in ParisLongchamp didn’t throw up anything spectacular. Native Trail did not look the finished article despite his win in the National Stakes but hopefully he can take a step forward and be a worthy leader of his generation.

A FEATURE of this flat season has been the better distribution of top prizes over different yards and Ado McGuinness made a huge breakthrough with the Abbaye win for Gary Devlin.

The colt has proven himself as a genuine Group 1 performer now and all the big sprints are on his agenda.

While we send congrats to a stable moving up, on a smaller scale we send sympathy to Noel Kelly’s yard on the lost of their star Decor Irlandais who had served them so well over the last few years.