Cirrus Des Aigles has had to settle for fifth place in his failed bid to claim a fourth Prix Dollar at Longchamp.
The Corine Barande-Barbe-trained gelding found the firm ground against him on Saturday as he failed to match the acceleration of the winner Free Port Lux, who gave Treve’s jockey Thierry Jarnet a confidence-boosting pre-Arc success.
Cirrus Des Aigles had won the Group Two race in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and was runner-up in 2011 before being relegated from first to fifth place 12 months ago.
There were inevitable calls for the nine-year-old’s retirement after what was his third consecutive subdued run, but his trainer refused to rule out another visit to Ascot for the Champion Stakes on October 17.
“I wasn’t disappointed,” Barande-Barbe said.
“We won’t judge him on that as the ground was against him. It was too fast and he is five lengths worse on that sort of ground.
“If you want to win, you must also be able to lose, so it is just one of those things.
“Where we go now depends on the forecast.”
Because he is a gelding, Cirrus Des Aigles is not eligible to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for which Treve remains favourite to claim the race for the third time on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
