Excellent second for Cloth Of Stars in Arc

Cloth Of Stars ran on strongly to finish second of the 18 runners in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s richest race, over 12 furlongs at Chantilly, France, on Sunday, October 1.

The four-year-old Sea The Stars colt, trained by Andre Fabre and partnered by Mickael Barzalona, chased the leaders and was settled in mid-division.

Faced with a wall of horses ahead with a quarter-mile remaining, he could not make meaningful progress until after another half-furlong.

Cloth Of Stars ran on powerfully and went past Ulysses to take second just over 110 yards out.

He closed the gap with the decisive winner Enable down to two and a half lengths by the line, with Ulysses a length and a quarter further adrift. The winning time was a fast 2m 28.69s on soft ground.

Lisa-Jane Graffard of Godolphin said: “Cloth Of Stars has run an incredible race and we are very proud of him.

“He really finished well and has shown himself to be a world-class horse, beaten by a proud champion.

“The Arc has been his objective for a long time and he was ready to run the race of his life.

“We have not talked about any further plans yet, but will do so when we see how he comes out of this race.”

Cloth Of Stars had won three of his four previous races this year, including the G1 Prx Ganay in May.