Dylan Browne McMonagle will not be fit to take the ride on Oaks winner Thundering On in Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Trainer Joseph O'Brien has booked former race winner Pierre Charles Boudot for the filly after his stable jockey was unable to pass medical checks in time to compete at the Paris Longchamp showpiece.
Injury and recovery
McMonagle has not ridden since August 25, when the filly he was riding fell fatally in a race at Bellewstown and he was taken to hospital suffering a concussion and other injuries. The 23-year-old told the Hong Kong Standard he was two weeks away from beginning his comeback.
Boudot's pedigree
Three-time French champion Boudot triumphed in the Arc aboard Waldgeist in 2019. His agent Herve Naggar told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: "He is very excited. He loves the filly and she has everything to (run well). She looks a bit like Minnie Hauk last year and to ride the best three-year-old filly in an Arc with the weight advantage and being in good form is really exciting for him."
Thundering On's form
Thundering On stormed to victory in the Oaks at Epsom on soft going but underperformed in the Pretty Polly Stakes behind Estrange in June. However, she bounced back on good ground over one mile two furlongs at the Curragh in the Group Two Blandford Stakes most recently. While many believe she would thrive on a rain-affected surface, it appears unlikely she will encounter those conditions on Sunday.
"The forecast has been changing in the last few days," Naggar noted. "We are waiting for some rain tomorrow. I would say it is not going to be as fast as the day of the prep races but it is going to be French good ground."
Ballydoyle choices
Naggar also represents Christophe Soumillon, who has been pencilled in for one of the Ballydoyle trio — Minnie Hauk, Benvenuto Cellini or Diamond Necklace — depending on which way stable number one Ryan Moore elects to go. "We are waiting for Ryan to make a choice," said Naggar. "He has ridden the three of them and won a Group One with Diamond Necklace so she is a princess for him and he is unbeaten with her," said Naggar. "Minnie Hauk was beaten just a head in last year's Arc. One of the two fillies would be his preference I would think."
