Orfevre was awesome in the Arima Kinen, winning by eight lengths
PICTURE: Masakazu Takahashi, BY SAM WALKER12:30PM 22 DEC 2013
ORFEVRE finally did it. It was the victory he had promised for the last three years. The one he gave us a sneak preview of when
three lengths clear in the 2012 Arc. And finally it came, on his final start.
His whole career appeared to be building to something. The effortless class, the comfortable wins and the quirky nature which denied him so many top-level successes. And here it was in the Arima Kinen. Cards on the table, class on top.
An eight-length win in front of a huge home crowd, baying and praying in equal measure for success for their favourite son in the nation’s biggest race. And he delivered. Fitting farewells do not come so snug.
It was the performance of his much celebrated life and the fans rewarded him in kind. The volcanic archipelago he calls home hasn’t suffered an eruption like it since Deep Impact became world champion with victory in the very same race in 2006.
Theirs were similar stories. Both Triple Crown heroes, both defeated in the Arc and both back to their best for Nakayama’s big end-of-season showdown.
The only difference was that this year Orfevre had been put squarely in his place in the Arc, meaning access to the world number one spot was barred by one outstanding filly in Treve.
Treve was always likely to finish the year as world champion after beating Orfevre by an impressive five lengths in the Arc. No one beats Orfevre by five lengths and on Sunday we saw why.
But while Treve remains on top of the world, Orfevre moves up to a share of second after his latest success – the greatest of his career – for which he earned an RPR of 130.
Such an impressive victory for Orfevre made him the second horse in as many weeks to make a mockery of the ‘World’s Best Racehorse’ ceremony, which celebrated Treve, Black Caviar and Wise Dan as the best horses in the world for 2013 preemptively. In early December.
Lord Kanaloa was the first horse to highlight the ceremony’s flawed scheduling after posting a performance to rival Black Caviar as the best sprinter in the world this year (see World Class, December 9).
The WBR response to Lord Kanaloa’s win was to suggest putting him in behind the top three, conceding that he had improved but saving face for their ill-timed ceremony.
But now Orfevre has really dropped them in it. If the top three horses in the world do not change when the final standings are released in January the WBR committee will have quite a job proving their results weren’t affected by prematurely declaring their hand.
It isn’t just Orfevre’s omission from the knees-up that now looks a clear error. The WBR committee will also have a job sticking to their stance that Black Caviar and Treve (jointly honoured as the ‘highest-rated horses in the world’ earlier this month) deserve to be joint-World Champions, given the way their respective form lines have worked out.
Good old Orfevre: a big one for himself, a big shot in the arm for Treve and a big one in the eye for the authorities. You’ve gotta love him.
What a way to end the year and what a way to end a career. Orfevre coasted in with any amount in hand over his old Classic rival Win Variation on the weekend. He’d beaten the runner-up four times previously but never by this sort of margin.
His popular success means he is almost guaranteed to regain the Japan Horse of the Year title, which he picked up in 2011 after winning the Triple Crown, but lost in 2012 after his frustrating display in the Arc, where he threw the race away in the dying strides.
He finished only third in the Horse of the Year standings last year behind Gentildonna and Gold Ship, but the dizzying high of his latest success (where he had Gold Ship back in third) should see him back on top as the fans’ favourite.
I mentioned last week (World Class, December 16) that Orfevre’s trainer Yasutoshi Ikee appeared to have got the horse’s head right after training him for confidence, using the same technique as in the film Seabiscuit.
That method of letting your horse win by daylight on the gallops has been used by plenty of trainers to ready their charges for the big days, including legendary horseman Sir Henry Cecil.
For Orfevre the switch to this method meant he was no longer afraid to get to the front in a race, which was a problem he suffered with last year. But beyond that it appears to have allowed him to really assert when hitting the front and in that respect it is a shame they didn’t try it sooner.
While training alongside a gallop buddy might have helped to preserve him as a top-level specimen for three full seasons, imagine what might have happened if he had been trained to win by daylight last year. He could have won the Arc by five, breaking that painful Japanese Arc hoodoo.
Now set to take up stud duties alongside Deep Impact at the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Orfevre leaves behind a most memorable career on the racetrack. He was undoubtedly a World Class favourite.
After he first won the Arima Kinen back in 2011 World Class (December 27, 2011) named him as a third star on the world scene (behind Frankel and Black Caviar), suggesting he was the first Japanese horse since Deep Impact capable of breaking the 130-barrier on RPRs. And finally, he did it. Cashing in all that promise with the performance of his life.
Although he never received an outright world title (he never quite deserved one in a time of giants), he was crowned world middle-distance champion by RPRs in 2011 and 2012. And he now looks set for a second Horse of the Year title in Japan.
He will also be eternally remembered for that 2012 Arc defeat: Japan’s one that got away.
Orfevre was part of a great few years for international racing and, after the recent retirements of Frankel and Black Caviar, his departure from the scene will leave another hole in the calendar which had been so wonderfully populated.
All set for his second career at stud, let’s never forget the racehorse. A superstar of the international circuit. A classy and unpredictable monster who lit up the stage for three full seasons, supported by connections who were never afraid to take on the best. He went to France and almost conquered and on his final start he showed his true worth.
He was a headcase and a livewire, but what a talent. Ladies and gentlemen, Orfevre.
TOP OF THE CLASS: Orfevre 130 Yasutoshi Ikee (Jap) (Arima Kinen, Nakayama, 1m4½f, 22 Dec)
World Class will return in 2014.
TOP LIST
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Treve (Fr) | Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe | 131T |
| 2 | Orfevre (Jap) | Arima Kinen | 130T |
| Wise Dan (US) | Woddbine Mile | 130T | |
| 4 | Black Caviar (Aus) | TJ Smith Stakes | 129T |
| Lord Kanaloa (Jap) | Hong Kong Sprint | 129T | |
| Toronado (GB) | Sussex Stakes | 129T | |
| 7 | Dawn Approach (Ire) | Sussex Stakes | 128T |
| Fort Larned (US) | Stephen Foster Hcap | 128D | |
| Game On Dude (US) | Santa Anita Hcap/Pacific Classic | 128A/D | |
| Mucho Macho Man (US) | Awesome Again | 128D | |
| Farhh (GB) | Champion Stakes | 128T | |
| Novellist (Ger) | King George | 128T | |
| Will Take Charge (US) | Clark Handicap | 128D |
TOP TURF PERFORMERS
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Treve (Fr) | Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe | 131 |
| 2 | Orfevre (Jap) | Arima Kinen | 130 |
| Wise Dan (US) | Woodbine Mile | 130 | |
| 3 | Black Caviar (Aus) | TJ Smith Stakes | 129 |
| Lord Kanaloa (Jap) | Hong Kong Sprint | 129 | |
| Toronado (GB) | Sussex Stakes | 129 | |
| 6 | Dawn Approach (Ire) | Sussex Stakes | 128 |
| Farhh (GB) | Champion Stakes | 128 | |
| Novellist (Ger) | King George | 128 | |
| 9 | Olympic Glory (GB) | QEII/Jacques le Marois | 127 |
| Cirrus Des Aigles (Fr) | Champion Stakes |
127 |
TOP DIRT PERFORMERS
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Fort Larned (US) | Stephen Foster Hcap | 128 |
| Game On Dude (US) | Santa Anita Hcap | 128 | |
| Mucho Macho Man (US) | Awesome Again | 128 | |
| Will Take Charge (US) | Clark Handicap | 128 | |
| 5 | Ron The Greek (US) | Jockey Club Gold Cup | 126 |
| 6 | Cross Traffic (US) | Whitney Invitational | 125 |
| 7 | Declaration Of War (Ire) | Breeders’ Cup Classic | 124 |
| Successful Dan (US) | Whitney Invitational | 124 | |
| Verrazano (US) | Haskell Invitational | 124 | |
| 10 | Beholder (US) | Breeders’ Cup Distaff | 123 |
| Goldencents (US) | Breeders’ Cup Distaff | 123 |
TOP ALL-WEATHER PERFORMERS
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Game On Dude (US) | Pacific Classic | 128 |
| 2 | Animal Kingdom (US) | Dubai World Cup | 124 |
| 3 | Mental (UAE) | Al Shindagha Sprint | 121 |
| 4 | Goldencents (US) | Bing Crosby | 120 |
| Silver Max (US) | Shadwell Turf Mile | 120 | |
| 6 | Red Cadeaux (GB) | Dubai World Cup | 119 |
| African Story (UAE) | Burj Nahar | 119 | |
| 8 | Centralinteligence (US) | Triple Bend Hcap | 118 |
| Comma To The Top (US) | Los Angeles Handicap | 118 | |
| Wise Dan (US) | Shadwell Turf Mile | 118 |
fonte: RacingPost
