5 June 2019
Photo of Fierement winning the Tenno Sho Spring : Japan Racing Association
Japan will be able to count upon at least two representatives in this year’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe: Roger Barows, the record-breaking Japan Derby (Gr1) winner, and Fièrement. The connections of the latter, a 4-year-old colt, have announced that they will be aiming him for the Arc.
Before getting on the plane to France, Fièrement will have to perform up to standard in his prep race, the Sapporo Kinen, a Group 2 which takes place on the 18th August at Sapporo. The Sapporo Kinen has been used previously by Japanese horses as a prep for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe: Harp Star and Gold Ship finished respectively first and second in the 2015 running of the race. Harp Star went on to finish sixth in the Arc, finishing with an impressively strong run having lost a lot of ground in the final turn, with Gold Ship finishing in fourteenth position.
Fièrement is a two-time Group 1 winner: a late-maturing colt, he won the Japan St. Leger over 3,000m in October 2018, and in 2019, he won the Tenno Sho (Spring) – which translates into ‘the Emperor’s Race’– over 3,200 meters.
He is owned by Sunday Racing, one of the leading Japanese racing operations. They have previously been represented through Champions such as Orfèvre (twice 2nd in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe) and Gentildonna…
Fièrement is a Japanese horse with a French touch: his jockey is the French native Christophe Lemaire who is based in Japan, and he also has French origins. His dam, Lune d’Or, was bred in France: more precisely in Normandy – at Haras du Mézeray. Trained by Richard Gibson, she won the Prix de Malleret (Group 2) and the Prix de Pomone (Group 2) in 2014, followed by the Premio Lydia Tesio (Group 1).
His pedigree, developed by the Moussac family at Haras du Mézeray, is a famous one: he comes from the family of Luth Enchantée, leading filly of her generation over 1,600m and third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe over 2,400 meters in 1983.
The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe takes place on Sunday the 6th October 2019 at ParisLongchamp. In 2018, this race was once again rated as the Best Race in the World by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.