The Miracle of Mulheim: meet Marcel Weiss and Arc hero Torquator Tasso
Scott Burton travels to Germany to discuss an extraordinary victory
The headline in the Racing Post said it all: "Torquator who?" Paris-Turf went with "sensation", and even the website of German racing's rulers, Deutscher Galopp, proudly boasted of the "miracle" of the country's third Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner.
At Longchamp, trainer Marcel Weiss appeared to be floating above all the mayhem, calmly rationalising the fact that in just his second season with a licence he had sent out a 80-1 chance to win Europe's greatest prize under a jockey having his first ride in the race.
Ten days later the excitement is still vivid for all those involved, everyone connected to the Weiss's stable in this small Ruhr valley suburb having their own recollection of how they lived through those incredible two and a half minutes.
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- Aidan O'Brien: 'The weirdest, strangest, most impossible things can happen in racing and in life'
- James Fanshawe: 'It's easy to go in your shell and grumble that things aren't fair - but you have to remember how well you've done'
- Ralph Beckett: 'That day changed our lives - everything that's happened since has gone back to that'
- 'I never dial myself down, so when I ride I still put on my mascara' - Patrick Mullins meets Aine O'Connor
- 'I've made mistakes and there was definitely plenty of frustration - but now I'm where I want to be'