OISIN MURPHY WILL bid to break new ground for both himself and Japan on Sunday when the multiple champion jockey partners Byzantine Dream in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The four-year-old rocketed into the big-race picture when winning the Prix Foy under Murphy on Arc trials day, beating the top-class Sosie, who was fourth in last year’s Arc when favourite for Andre Fabre.
That win saw the Tomoyasu Sakaguchi-trained runner’s odds tumble for his Paris date and only a handful of contenders are in front of him in the ante-post market.
Murphy has long had a successful relationship aboard Japanese-trained runners in major contests around the globe, and is now poised to deliver the European showpiece so sought after by the Japanese, but to date has proved elusive.
He said: “I was very happy with Byzantine Dream in the Prix Foy, he travelled round well and showed a nice turn of foot.
“It was a decent trial, where I didn’t have to get serious with him, and I thought Sosie was a decent benchmark.
“Nice ground will be important for him and I’ll be hoping for a dry week in France.”
Assessing the opposition, Murphy pointed towards another chance for Japan, as well as two dangerous fillies.
He said: “Croix Du Nord is a very good horse, the two fillies that stand out are Aventure and Minnie Hauk. Obviously Aidan’s (O’Brien) filly has done nothing wrong this year and Aventure was placed in the race last year.”
