A win for France - but Vadeni typifies how it has damaged its own Arc hopes
The Prix du Jockey Club is not the race it was, a point reinforced by Vadeni's Eclipse victory on Saturday. That's not to say France's premier Classic is necessarily any better or worse; it's just very different.
When the distance of the Jockey Club was reduced to 1m2½f in 2005 from the mile and a half of purist Derby tradition, it was bound to have an effect on the shape of the European season.
Almost two decades later and, with Vadeni's victory fresh in the mind, the major consequences of that change are apparent. Whereas once a Jockey Club winner might be rested through the summer with the Arc in mind, the shorter distance means there is now a clear path through the summer and autumn to the Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and Champion Stakes.
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