Germany's Torquator Tasso seals his passage for the centenary edition

Connections have been trumpeting the fact that the German colt Torquator Tasso is being aimed at the 2021 edition of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Gr1) for months now. Fast-forwarding to Sunday (September 5,), he landed the third Group success of his career after winning the 149th Wettstar Grosser Preis von Baden (Gr1). However, the 4-year-old had to dig deep to repel the 3-year-old and Deutsches Derby (Gr1) winner Sisfahan. There was a gap of just under three lengths to the third, the classy British performer and Group winning Passion and Glory. Quoted at odds varying between 33/1 and 50/1 by the British bookmakers for the Arc, Torquator Tasso is nonetheless no outsider. For, as a 3-year-old (2020), he was second in the Deutsches Derby (Gr1) to In Swoop – the future second in the 2020 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Gr1). A few months later, he won the Longines 130th Grosser Preis von Berlin (Gr1). He is trained in Germany by Marcel Weiss who has yet to have a runner in the coveted French prize. Torquator Tasso is owned by Gestüt Auenquelle – a prestigious German stable that has won four domestic Gr1 prizes but none outside Germany. So the 2021 Arc, therefore, represents something of a big adventure for this horse's connections. The horse hails from a great German bloodline; one which has produced two previous Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Gr1) winners: Sea the Stars (in 2009) and Urban Sea (in 1993). The last horse to complete the Grosser Preis von Baden - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe double was the German filly Danedream in 2011.