New Zealand-born, Australian-trained mare Verry Elleegant will this October have the chance to test herself against the world's best, with her ownership group and trainer making the decision to enter her in the prestigious Prix l'Arc de Triomphe, as announced by her official Twitter account.
After a meeting with the ownership group & the trainer Francis-Henri @GraffardRacing we are delighted to announce that we will be paying the late entry fee & giving our champion mare the chance to represent AUS/NZ in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe & take on the worlds best 🇳🇿🇦🇺🇫🇷
— Verry Elleegant (@VerryElleegant) September 19, 2022
<p>The seven-year-old horse - who in 2021 won the Melbourne Cup - has so far had a mixed international career, finishing seventh in her debut, before bouncing back for a third-place finish in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Foy.</p> <p>Following that result, <a data-cke-saved-href=" www.sportingnews.com="">Verry Elleegant's ownership believed that the mare had what it took to compete with the world's best, and Monday's decision confirms this, with the late entry fee being paid in order to get her on the starting line.
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In mid-September, co-owner Brae Sokolski told Sky TV that he felt confident his mare will be competitive in the race, rather than just make up numbers.
"We've got reason now to be very optimistic about her being competitive on Arc weekend. She'll be absolutely primed in three weeks time," Sokolski said.
"Obviously the Arc is going to be a much more difficult assignment so we need to really be confident she's going to be ultra-competitive in that race if we are going to go down that path."
If successful, Verry Elleegant faces the prospect of a $4 million pay-day, a significant boost to her total career earnings which currently sit at the $15 million mark.
