Newcastle bosses celebrate Enable Arc triumph after Tapeta debut

Newcastle racecourse was celebrating Enable's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory on Monday, less than 12 months after the superstar filly made her debut on the Tapeta.

Enable capped a remarkable 2017 with a devastating win in Europe's richest Flat race on Sunday, much to the delight of, among others, Newcastle clerk of the course James Armstrong.

The daughter of Nathaniel made the first of her eight career starts at Gosforth Park on November 28 last year, winning a maiden fillies' stakes over a mile by three and three-quarter lengths at a notably generous 7-2.

Following that sole two-year-old outing, Enable has hardly put a foot wrong, reeling off five Group 1 wins, including a pair of Classics to confirm herself as one of the greatest middle-distance fillies of recent times.

Armstrong spoke on Monday of his delight at the Arc result and said it vindicated the decision to replace the turf Flat course with Tapeta, with the first race on the artificial surface having taken place in May 2016.

"It's a very big deal for us. It justifies what we've done here and shows how successful the Tapeta has been," said Armstrong. "Every maiden we have up here now, we're hoping to see the new superstar!"

Arc's external affairs director Sussanah Gill echoed Armstrong's sentiments and added: "We wanted to build a world class all-weather venue to attract the very best horses and we hope we will continue to see horses of the quality of Enable at Newcastle."

Enable is the latest star performer to emerge from the all-weather ranks in recent years and follows stablemate and 2015 Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs, who made his debut at Wolverhampton in December 2014.

Covert Love meanwhile, who won the Irish Oaks for Hugo Palmer in the same year, made her debut at Lingfield before following that up with a win at Chelmsford.

Ghanaati also become a Classic winner in 2009 having got off the mark at Kempton in the previous year, while the likes of Caravaggio and Euro Charline have gone on to Group or Grade 1 success following debut wins on the all-weather.

Extraordinary Enable storms to Arc glory