It is not too often that you can look back at the result of a race 60 years ago and know that readers today will instantly recognise the name of the winner. In this case the race is the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the winner was the brilliant Ribot. Not only did the unbeaten colt win the race as a three-year-old in 1955, but he came back a year later to repeat the feat.

In the history of Italian racing no horse has done more for the sport than Ribot, and it is a great pity that all these years later racing and breeding in that country is at such a low.