Spectators click pictures as Treve is led towards the gates ahead of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race in Paris. Picture: Juhaim

By Mikhil Bhat/Paris
 
Treve walked into the paddock to a reception befitting a champion, a star, a legend.
Waiting for her there, amidst the rapturous claps of the people around, was HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, who patted her for a job well done.
Treve brought people to the racecourse. She had the love of the people like not many can claim. She is a wondermare.
And that would be her legacy. Period.
Not that Golden Horn won. Not that Frankie Dettori rode a perfectly-planned race. Not that the Al Shaqab Racing mare finished fourth in her last race. Not that she did not win a hat-trick of Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe titles.
“Treve was an incredible adventure and was able to bring the public to the races. She will forever remain a champion,” her trainer Criquette Head-Maarek said after the 5 million euro Group 1 race.
Al Shaqab Racing general manager Khalifa al-Attiyah echoed the trainer’s sentiments, when he said, “Treve, she is a champion and she does not have to prove anything to anyone.”
Treve had an illustrious audience at the Longchamp Racecourse yesterday including HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Golden Horn, who was beaten just once this season in Juddmonte International, turned the disadvantage from a higher draw to his advantage as Dettori got her to run wide, away from the traffic before settling in behind Treve’s leader Shahah.
The Motivator progeny, meanwhile, stayed in the last third of the field before Thierry Jarnet, eyeing a record fifth Arc win, made the move as the competition got into the home straight. But by then Golden Horn and Dettori had already started building up the lead.
Last year’s runner-up Flintshire and New Bay chased Golden Horn but even they found it hard to catch up with the Epsom Derby winner.
Eventually, the two Andre Fabre charges split Golden Horn and Treve, as New Bay edged out the two-time Arc winner in a photo finish.
“You obviously get disappointed when you lose,” Head-Maarek said at the Longchamp Racecourse, which will be brought down to make way for a futuristic new redevelopment.
“She was beaten by a very good horse, a 3-year-old. Flintshire was runner-up last year. New Bay is the best horse in France, so there is no disgrace in getting beaten by these. It is very difficult to get a horse to win three Arcs. It has never been done. We tried, but we couldn’t. Maybe the Prix Vermeille took more out of her than I thought.
“But we will try again, we will come with other horses. And I am sure the record will be beaten one day. Today, Treve ran a race. There are no excuses. She was just beaten by a better horse. I think Dettori ran a fantastic race.”
Al Shaqab Racing’s consultant Harry Herbert said, “Thierry (Jarnet) pointed to the ground. He was gutted. But the mare has nothing to be ashamed of.
“Golden Horn is an exceptional horse, trained by a big professional and ridden by our first jockey, Frankie Dettori who Sheikh Joaan wants to congratulate.”
Golden Horn’s win meant that trainer John Gosden added an Arc to his resume, while the colt’s owner Anthony Oppenheimer confirmed that he won’t be racing next season, and instead heading to the studs in Darley.
Dettori, who was all praise for Golden Horn, spoke about Treve too: “Treve has been a great mare. She has been a revelation last three years. And my boss was waiting for me at the winner’s enclosure and gave me a high five. He is a very sporty man.”
Treve will be retiring, and will be covered by Dubawi, sire to yesterday’s third place finisher New Bay.
Her 66-year-old trainer said,“She is a champion and she deserves to head to the studs.”
Treve, a progeny of Epsom Derby winner Motivator and Trevise, was put for auction at the 2011 Arqana auction but her breeder Alec Head, Criquette’s father, bought her back for 22,000 euros after she did not elicit much interest.
In 2012, she won a maiden race at Longchamp before another success at Saint-Cloud in May 2013. A month later, she won the Prix de Diane in Chantilly, after which she was bought by Sheikh Joaan.
She came into that year’s Arc unbeaten, having also won the Prix Vermeille, and smashed the opposition to win her first Arc.
In 2014, health problems took a toll – a bad back. She lost thrice that year before she repeated her feat in the Arc.
Coming into this year’s Arc, she remained unbeaten again, winning Prix Corrida, Grand Prix de Saint Cloud and Prix Vermeille.