Sectional times: how Sottsass did it as Arc turns into a sprint for the line

You won’t see many more tactical Arcs than this and the sectional timings back up the visual impression.

In strongly run races horses are slowing up in the closing stages, but here they were quickening and the fastest furlong of the race was from two furlongs out to the furlong pole, run by Sottsass in 11.75sec and by fourth-placed Gold Trip in 11.66sec. That made Sottsass 0.69sec faster than Waldgeist ran for the same furlong on his way to victory in last year’s race on similarly testing ground.

Persian King was allowed the easiest of leads and his tactical advantage is clear to see. He hit a maximum speed of only 60.98kmh and six others ran faster than him at some point in the race. Yet he was able to finish third because he was best positioned for the way the race was run. Credit should go to jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot for getting his mount so close.