It is what it is.
Sadly, that well-worn phrase provides the bottom line to the Verry Elleegant/Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe saga which was formally brought to a close when connections of the eleven-time Group 1 winning mare declined to pay the supplementary entry fee for their champion, seemingly to avoid the ignominy of the having their star then balloted out of the big race.
“In my mind, it is egregious to say she is not good enough,” part-owner Brae Sokolski said, as reported on Racenet. “it’s an absolute travesty.”
Many would agree with Sokolski. but all of the counter-arguments in the world will not change the fact that the French handicapper saw things differently and, by dropping Verry Ellegant’s rating so markedly … from 120 to 113 … on the basis of her recent performances (as he evaluated them) … the handicapper was, in fact, always going to be putting Verry Ellegant’s participation in the Arc at great risk.
By way of explanation, Eric Le Guen, the handicapper in question, told Racing Post, “She (Verry Elleegant) finished 2021 after winning the Melbourne Cup on 123 and this year she has run six times – four times in Australia and twice in France – and even when she won a Group 1 at Randwick in February, she did not post a rating higher than we have her now with any of the international handicappers, except Australia.”
“For that win the Australian handicapper gave her 114, but France and Britain made her 109, Germany 111 and Japan 113.
“Since the beginning of 2022 she has not managed to get past 113 in six attempts. Of course, if she had only run once or twice this year her figure would not have dropped so far, but today she doesn’t merit being given a place in the international classification, which requires a mark of 115 to get in. And that is according to every single one of the international handicappers.”
Even if that consensus is true for the moment, if nothing else, this episode had exposed the difference in ratings given by handicappers from different racing jurisdictions at different times … as in, by Le Guen’s own admission, Australia giving Verry Ellegant 114 for her win in the Chipping Norton while Britain and France only allotted her a 109 rating.
That is a massive difference which is hard to fathom given that there is a board of international handicappers who, you would think, surely would have a primary task of ensuring consistency of ratings as best they can … at all times … across all racing platforms … to avoid the type of controversy that has enveloped Verry Ellegant’s ill-fated Arc mission.
For his part, Verry Elleegant’s Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard was damning in his assessment of the situation.
“It’s a very bad situation for French racing,” Grafford told Racing Post. “The French authorities have put us in a very bad situation and I’m ashamed by their reaction and the way they have treated my owners and this mare.
“I’m sure this will cost horses being sent to France by foreign owners in the future.”
Graffard also placed an apology on record to all Australian racing fans.
For all that though, it just brings us back to our starting point.
It is what it is … and no amount of noise will change the French handicapper’s ruling.
That means that Verry Ellegant will, in essence, only be running for a consolation prize when she does get to face the starter at Longchamp on Sunday … not in the Arc, but in the Qatar Prix de Royallieu, where she will get her chance to fire a shot back at the French handicapping system.
You can be certain that several people with Australian accents would be happy to see the French handicapper ducking and running for cover should Verry Elleegant rise to the occasion, but in the context of her original target though, a win for Verry Elleegant would only be a small pleasure, but one which would bring an otherwise forgettable European campaign to a positive conclusion.
