MELBOURNE CUP WINNER'S CAREER GOES ON THE LINE

By Graham Potter | Friday, September 9, 2022

Verry Elleegant’s career has been put on notice as she heads for a Group race assignment at Longchamp on Sunday.

Owner Brae Sokolski, talking to the Herald Sun, summed up the feeling in the camp as the countdown closes in on the champion mare’s second sortie onto the European battlefield.

“I’m apprehensive because this is D-Day,’’ said Sokolski. “If she doesn’t perform to our expectations on Sunday there is no way we would persevere. We are mindful of protecting her legacy. It would be difficult to stomach if she failed again. The adventure would be over.”

Verry Elleegant finished in a very disappointing last place in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville in her first start in the European setting.

The pace of the race, even the ride of Frankie Dettori, were arguments put up as possible legitimate reasons behind her ‘failure’, but none of that could quite quell the disappointment of the outcome … and that is something Verry Elleegant will have to step beyond on Sunday if she is to keep her magnificent sixteen-win career (including eleven Group 1’s) moving forward.

If Verry Elleegant does perform well on Sunday … and that does not necessarily mean a win … the prestigious Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 2, for which connections would have to pay a late entry fee, could well be her next goal.

If that does become the scenario after Sunday, Verry Elleegant will need a new jockey fir the Arc as Frankie Dettori has already been booked to ride last year’s Arc winner Torquator Tasso in Europe’s premier race where the unbeaten Baaeed is early favourite.