Racing’s true greats are obvious and dual Arc winner Daryz isn’t one of them
Following his back-to-back successes in Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe , the Racing Post queried: “Two Arcs is no mean feat – but where does Daryz sit among the pantheon of greats?” It’s an easy starter for 10, since the answer is that he’s hardly on it at all. Even if the rather lily-livered qualification “modern” is applied to the greatness stakes for Daryz, the answer’s the same. He’s a top-class, magnificent looking middle-distance star who pulled off a fantastic double in an Arc that was well up to par. But no way is he one of the greats. Splitting the “G” word into some specific measurement is obviously impossible, but it still must mean something. Even at a time when so much public discourse is about volume rather than accuracy, such distinctions matter even in the trivial matter of sporting legacy. It doesn’t have to be the sort of linguistic gymnastics that a certain vintage of TV audience got used to when RTÉ’s former football panel twisted itself into knots about Ronaldo or Beckham being good players, but very definitely not great. But it can’t be some irrelevance either. There have been just two indisputably great racehorses in this corner’s time scribbling on the game. Sea The Stars was so good during his epochal 2009 campaign that Mick Kinane remains convinced we only ever saw about 80 per cent of what was under the bonnet. The next year along came Frankel. Each has their fan base as to who was better, but no one can seriously dispute their status as great champions. Prior to them, it’s necessary to go back to 1986. Dancing Brave lost a Derby he should have won and a Breeders’ Cup he should never have run in. However, his performance in perhaps the finest Arc field ever sealed a superb CV. Before him it’s back to a vintage era in the early 1970s when Brigadier Gerard, Mill Reef and Nijinsky strutted their stuff. Real old-timers insist France’s 1965 Derby and Arc winning paragon Sea Bird was nonpareil. Other horses through the decades have exhibited superb brilliance. Montjeu couldn’t pull off an Arc double, but he was at another level to Daryz in terms of overall accomplishment, although without quite getting there as a true great. Ronaldo and Messi’s final playing days show a clear difference between the modern game’s two greats It’s the same with Enable and Treve, who did win the Arc back-to-back. Timeform rate Harbinger the equal of Sea The Stars, Dancing Brave and Shergar on the back of a single spectacular success in the 2010 King George. But no way is he a defining talent and, whisper it, maybe neither was Shergar, who beat up a poor year and wouldn’t have been sighted in a Guineas. All of it is subjective but as in all sports there are greats, and then there are greats. Roy Keane was a top player but Messi’s greatness is at a very different level. Cruyff was great, and Maradona too, but Best, kind of like Harbinger, flickered too briefly to really figure. David Clifford is already a great of Gaelic football in a way that none of the Dublin six-in-a-row team ever was. And yes, all of it is barstool stuff that can never come to some universally acceptable and decisive verdict. None of it pays the bills and as reasons for dispute go it’s all a relatively harmless exercise in futility. Maybe there’s a recency bias when it comes to judging it, rooted in a desire to believe that one’s witnessing a performance that will resonate over time. Racing fans can be quite wistful in wanting to believe there’s ultimately more to their passion than horses running round a fancy field. From a commercial point of view there’s certainly more to it than that. In a week of ostentatious spending at the Tattersalls sales in Newmarket, it pays to remember that there’s a lot of money in bigging up the next big stallion prospect. Aidan O’Brien’s near annual exercise in acclaiming his best three-year-old colt as the best he’s ever had has almost reached parody. But it still looks good on a shiny new stallion brochure, and one of those is all but sure to be run off soon once confirmation comes of Daryz going to stud. New Munster CEO Avan Lee says ‘it would be a real shame’ if there wasn’t a role for Peter O’Mahony From an accompanying media point of view too, rushing to acclaim new stars can be a profitable piece of content creation. It’s a boring clip that has perspective or context in a headline. But it can lead to premature elevation, which in this case it does Daryz a disservice. He should be acclaimed for what he is, which is an outstanding dual Arc winner who is a major talent around a mile and a half at Longchamp. That’s more than enough without trying to bill him as what he isn’t, which is an all-time great. When you see the real thing, everyone knows it. Something for the Weekend That only eight runners line up for the historic Birdcatcher Nursery at Naas on Saturday will be parsed for meaning, although it could help PINK VENOM (2.50pm) complete a handicap hat-trick. Johnny Murtagh’s filly won on quick ground at Fairyhouse before following up on soft at Cork. She’s got a 10lb hike in the ratings for that but is clearly in form and that going versatility can prove a big plus. Six of the last 10 Cesarewitch winners have been Irish trained and six travel from Ireland for Newmarket’s big marathon handicap prize on Saturday. Four of the five trainers involved have won the race before, including Charles Byrnes who scored with Run For Oscar in 2022. He sends REVEREND HUBERT (3.40pm) this time. Fancied for the Galway Plate, he never figured at Ballybrit but he brings course and distance winning from to this task. A stamina test on quick ground appears to be what he likes and gets here.