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![(Photo: Focus On Racing)](https://images.ctfassets.net/5v3ask2aw4ox/5OEVjhVxHJJ653VcSYTGLY/fbcb85e779d2874878260835033e52ce/Alpinista__02.10.22-d17__2_.jpg?q=80)
winner of the Arc de Triomphe Alpinista After suffering a minor injury before the scheduled swan song at the Japan Cup, he retired soon after.
Trained by Sir Mark Prescott, the 5-year-old enjoyed stellar success at Paris Longchamp last month under Luke Morris, winning six Group 1 races.
She will retire and move to owner Kirsten Rausing’s Runways Stud in Newmarket.
“Good morning because you can’t run an Alpinista in Japan. I had a grumpy day,” Prescott told PA News Agency.
“Last night when I was at the Cartier Awards dinner, she had a little fever in her legs. I didn’t like it.
“When I came back and first saw her this morning, I wasn’t happy. So she retired.”
“She’s amazing, she hasn’t lost in two years. She’s won six Group 1s in three different countries. She’s amazing.
“She will join Miss Rousing’s wonderful broodmare.”
The Alpinista has won eight races over 1.5 miles in a row, with the last six races all at the highest level.
She has run three times this year and won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Ark.
Plans to end her Tokyo career had to be sadly shelved, much to the chagrin of her Newmarket handlers.
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‘Best day of my racing life’ – Sir Mark Prescott tells Rishi Parsad the week after Ark’s glory. Great interview!
Mr Prescott added: They did everything they could to make things easier for us.
“Just as I did poor Miss Rousing, I felt guilty for letting them know.
“She took it well. She never flinched. For the amount of money, it would have been a huge thrill to win.
“She’s retiring, but I think it’s almost a relief for Miss Rousing, because the filly is doing very well and it would have been very bad if something had gone wrong there.
“It’s never easy to get far and it’s not a bad idea to see her through the garden fence every morning.
“If you’re the highest rated filly in the world outside your back door, that must give you great satisfaction.
“So it’s a calm morning. I can’t find anyone better than her. It’s taken me 53 years to find this one.”
Asked if he plans to continue his training career, the 74-year-old added: If you are a trainer, you should do these things at your own pace. It’s a lot of work for both the owner and the girl who takes care of her. But if you’re a trainer, you’re very used to disaster.
“Paul Cole is a great guy. He once said that the best thing about training is that you don’t have to worry about disasters for too long because they have just happened!
“I wish I had thought of that line.
Luke Morris: ‘A wonderful trip’
![Morris celebrating Ark's glory aboard the Alpinista (Photo: Focusonracing)](https://images.ctfassets.net/5v3ask2aw4ox/3MK77iwFwZlVoOzyXlCKsd/47fbb844ac100c0154c42591731a8cec/Alpinista_02.10.22-d3.jpg?q=80)
Luke Morris can look back on his Alpinista racing career with great affection and great pride. As the man who led his six wins in her Group 1, which culminated in that big day in Paris last month.
Morris is widely regarded as one of the hardest working jockeys in the weigh room, but he doesn’t eat regularly at the top table.
The 34-year-old broke a top-level duck at the 2010 Abbey Awards aboard the Clive Cox-trained Gilt Edge Girl. Six years later Sir Mark repeated the feat aboard Marsha of Prescott. It also provided him his first British Group 1 at Nunthorpe the following year.
But Alpinista Morris finally found the horse of a lifetime, leading him to all but one of his ten career wins, including six Group 1s held in three different countries. de Triomphe.
“I was very honored and very fortunate to be able to ride her,” he said.
“Winning 6 Group 1s in a spin was a huge achievement and culminated in the Ark. Many thanks to Sir Mark, Miss (Kirsten) Rausing (Owner Breeder) and the whole team at Heath House I can’t cut it.
“It’s been an incredible journey and I look back on her career fondly.”
![](https://d537y3nbkeq75.cloudfront.net/22/48481124.jpg)
Watch: Luke Morris Reflects on ARK’s Glory and the Rise of Alpinistas at The Friday Club Last Month with Rachel Casey and Martin Dwyer
Alpinista’s first three wins at the highest level all came in Germany last year, but France’s Saint-Cloud was the stage for its first win of the season.
She then went on to become one of the most popular in recent memory after brushing off all notions she had booked for her best performance on the continent when she beat last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup heroine at the Yorkshire Oaks in August. Sealed one of the triumphs of one of the arks and defeated the house at Paris Longchamp.
Morris admits he may never put a foot on another horse like the Alpinista, but hopes her accomplishments will open him up for further opportunities in the future.
He added:
“It’s great to have Miss Rousing back at the Runwades (stud). Hopefully she can be as successful as the broodmare.
“Hopefully I’ll find another good one somewhere that will open a door or two. I will keep working hard and hopefully another great one will come along.” .”
Praising Prescott in the Alpinista story
![Alpinista, Kirsten Rausing and Luke Morris (Photo: Mark Cranham / focusonracing.com)](https://images.ctfassets.net/5v3ask2aw4ox/1Y9vjeV5nUqeGdXPckdlHA/6576a4d20b6400a5181b83ea013b912b/Alpinista_lead_in-18.8.22-67.jpg?q=80)
Owner and breeder Kirsten Rausing has praised everyone who has been involved with the Alpinista after the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner’s track career came to an end.
“It’s not quite the end, but it’s the end of her racing career. I’m very excited, delighted and very grateful for all that has been achieved.” Cartier/Daily Telegraph Merit Award.
“This is all thanks to Sir Mark’s excellent training and Luke Morris’ excellent riding. It was a route.
“And indeed, I would like to thank Annabelle Willis for looking after the Alpinista since her arrival at Heath House and my team for looking after her. I am very lucky to have worked with such great jockeys.
“I am very grateful for all that she has achieved. I think she is going to be a world champion older mare. I’m sorry, but I’m happy with what she’s accomplished. Far away.”
Undefeated since April 2021, the Alpinista’s best hour came at Europe’s richest middle-distance contest at Longchamp last month.
Reflecting on the first Sunday in October, the owner and breeder has defied his usual pessimism and made it clear that he is completely confident his star mare will come out on top in the French capital. .
“Hmm, it was a very strange day and it took a while to sink in,” continued Rausing.
“Actually, I was pretty sure she would win. I’m not known to be an optimistic personality. I like to think of myself as a realist, but my Many of my friends would say that I am close to being a pessimist.
“I was surprised at how confident she was going to win.
![](https://d537y3nbkeq75.cloudfront.net/22/48496862.jpg)
Kirsten Rausing reacts to Arc glory with Rishi Persad at Luck On Sunday
And she believes the Alpinista trainer, the legendary master of Heath House, shared her confidence.
“Let me tell you it wasn’t that hard. He likes to play in the gallery a little bit about it,” Rausing added to Prescott’s pre-race claims. .
“I have won Group 1 seven times in Germany and he has won Germany six times, and we have never been there. I pitched.
The Swedish philanthropist has many champions and has won many Group 1 and Classic titles over the years, including Fame and Glory, winner of the Irish Derby and Ascot Gold Cup, and this year’s St Leger Champion, Elder Eldarov. have created people.
Alpinista’s achievements are well deserved among some of the great horses she has been involved with.
“She’s definitely the best player,” added Rausing.
“Her great-aunt Alborada won the Champion Stakes twice and was actually a World Champion herself. And then there’s Alborada’s sister, Albanova, who’s on Alpinista’s third dam, she’s been a three-time Group 1 winner in Germany and a great champion too. I have some lovely animals.
“The Alpinista is amazing and has been with me for five generations, so much effort, time and patience has gone into her and her descendants. and St Simons, and actually my team’s work in Staffordtown, County Meath, where my animals spend the year.
All eyes are now on the Alpinista’s breeding career, but as with her racing career, patience will be the order of the day.
“It takes time,” continued Rausing. “If all goes well, her first offspring will be 2 in 2026 and 3 in 2027, but these things take time and I’ve been at it for a long time, so be patient. I learned..is the key.”
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