Jockey Rossa Ryan ascended to the peak of European racing when he partnered the English filly Bluestocking to success in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday.
The 24-year-old rider from Tuam in Co Galway landed the €5 million feature on the Ralph Beckett-trained star, who was supplemented into Europe’s most prestigious all-aged contest for €120,000 just days earlier by her Juddmonte owners.
“I never thought she’d win,” Beckett admitted afterwards although Ryan rode Bluestocking with a level of assurance that suggested he didn’t envisage any other outcome.
After Aidan O’Brien’s big hope Los Angeles went to the lead soon after the start, Ryan slotted his well backed 11-2 shot just behind him, quickly made his move in the straight, and Bluestocking eventually had over a length to spare over Aventure at the line.
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It was a repeat of last month’s Prix Vermeille outcome which encouraged Juddmonte into adding their filly into the Arc. And it resulted in a record seventh Arc success for the renowned green and pink colours of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah.
Frankie Dettori twice won the Arc in those silks on Enable, while the legendary Pat Eddery memorably scored in a vintage renewal in 1986 on Dancing Brave. The 103rd Arc mightn’t have been as deep as that, but Ryan is now forever on Europe’s most exclusive roll-of-honour.
The son of trainer David Ryan was a champion pony racing rider before moving to England as a teenager, where he has quickly moved up the ladder.
An early high-pressure job with AMO Racing didn’t last long, while he also made unwanted headlines in 2022 when being elbowed out of the saddle by Christophe Soumillon in a race at Saint Cloud.
However, a first Group One victory happened with Shaquille in last year’s July Cup ahead of being crowned top rider on the all-weather circuit in Britain last winter.
If that kept quantities of winners ticking over, more top-flight success came with Bluestocking in the Pretty Polly at the Curragh this summer and her rate of progress throughout the season has taken both to the pinnacle of the game.
“A horse can really change your life, and she has mine,” Ryan said.
“I know everyone overlooked her, but on form she had been at the top table and done it all. She just proved she’s something else. I can’t really believe it, this filly has been something else to my career,” the Irishman added.
Beckett was runner-up with Westover in last year’s Arc and commented: “It’s a tribute to her constitution more than anything else, it’s extraordinary to have a horse to have danced all the dances since May and come back and do that. She is an extraordinary beast.
“The draw helped, and it was a terrific ride from Rossa, everything went to plan, and he was able to pull it off. What a day. This is our best ever day for sure.”
Beckett, 53, once an assistant to Co Kildare trainer Arthur Moore, won this year’s Irish Oaks with You Got To Me and also landed the Curragh Derby in 2022 with Westover.
Aidan O’Brien ruefully considered if front-running tactics suited Los Angeles who he felt raced a little idly but stayed on admirably up the straight in a race where few got into contention.
“It’s hard to do it in front. He ran a good race, he was a bit babyish out there, a bit green. With an ideal run we might have preferred a lead, but we didn’t have one. He ran a great race,” said O’Brien.
“He’s not blowing much, we will see how he is. If he was to go again, he could go back for the Champion Stakes [at Ascot] or something,” he added.
Earlier on the card, O’Brien’s second-string Camille Pissarro emerged on top in the Prix Jean Luc Lagadere to continue an Arc weekend that at one point seemed like being a Ballydoyle benefit.
A four-timer on Saturday included Kyprios becoming O’Brien’s most successful Group One horse of all with an eighth top-flight success in the Prix Du Cadran.
He also picked up Saturday’s other Group One with the 25-1 outsider Grateful who swept to success under Soumillon. The Belgian veteran was also at his stealthy best on Camille Pissarro who came from last to first.
“Masterful,” was how O’Brien described Soumillon’s spin after his first-string Henri Matisse got hampered soon after the start. “He’s a very good work horse this horse, we always thought the world of him, we probably haven’t been riding him right – he’s a fast horse and he quickens well.”
The big race winners, Beckett and Ryan, subsequently had the Prix de la Foret favourite Kinross but he had to settle for second behind the impressive French filly Ramatuelle.
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