Striking Ghaiyyath has Godolphin team dreaming of Arc glory after German display

Expectations have been high for Ghaiyyath since he was bought for €1.1million as a foal in 2015 and Sunday is the day he finally gets the chance to deliver at the very highest level.

For all that it was a runaway Group 1 win in Germany last month that catapulted him to public attention, this is a colt who has been turning heads for quite a while.

He took the eye on his first public appearance in the sale ring at Goffs as a foal back in 2015 when he joined Godolphin, who were doubtless delighted to get the son of top sire Dubawi out of Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Nightime.

William Buick confident Ghaiyyath has the class to lay it down to Enable in Arc

And Ghaiyyath looked the sort who could prove that was money well spent in a highly promising two-year-old career that ended with him touted as a Derby contender after victory in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket.

As it was, Masar triumphed for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby at Epsom last year while his stablemate was restricted to just one run all last season, a win at Longchamp in September.

But Ghaiyyath has firmly served notice that he is set to make up for lost time in 2019.

First he scored an impressive all-the-way win in the Prix d’Harcourt at Longchamp in April. But if that was impressive, his last victory was simply breathtaking as he destroyed the field from the front in the Grosser Preis von Baden at Baden-Baden last month and came home an astonishing 14 lengths clear.

The manner of that first Group 1 success demanded that he should be pitched in against Enable and Charlie Appleby is looking forward to having his first runner in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

"Ghaiyyath goes into this race in great order and on the back of a very impressive win in Germany," the trainer said. "He is very versatile in terms of ground and soft conditions are not going to worry us.

"He could only beat what was put in front of him out in Germany – the time was good and he ended up having to do everything his own way. We've always held him in high regard and he's won five of his seven starts, so he takes a nice profile into the race.

"It's exciting to have my first runner in the Arc and Ghaiyyath comes into the race a relatively fresh horse, while a few of the opposition have been kept busy throughout the summer."

It is unlikely to be so easy to dominate the field in the Arc but that does not worry Appleby.

"He is a horse who doesn’t have to make the running but he likes to be forwardly-placed and should be fine with only 12 runners in the field," he added.

"On known form, he is better coming into his races off a break but he is an older horse, a typical maturing Dubawi colt, and the days when we had to give him bigger gaps between races are hopefully behind us.

"We would be delighted if Ghaiyyath could win but we know that we are chasing the tail of Enable. Being placed behind her wouldn’t do Ghaiyyath’s CV any harm as he is hopefully going to be a nice horse to have around next year."

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