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Smullen hopeful Harzand can make Arc
Pat Smullen is hopeful that Harzand can recover in time to take his chance in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The dual Derby winner was struck into during the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes and he faces a battle to be fit for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on October 2.
An x-ray on the injury turned up clear and Smullen is confident he will be ready to race at Chantilly at the start of next month, especially given his healing powers.
"He got knocked around and struck into behind, he was very sore and lame after the race," Smullen told At The Races.
"Hopefully he'll recover in time for the Arc and there's no question that when he returns to a mile and a half we'll see a better horse again. I've lost no confidence in him at all.
"It was an extremely good race, probably one of the best races I've ever ridden in, the pace we went the whole way, we kept quickening all the way.
"With the mishap as well, there were some positives to take from it, but we'll put that behind us, move forward and I still think he's a horse who could run a huge race in an Arc.
"He's quite sore, the next couple of days will tell and he'll need to recover quickly to get back in his training regime, but when I saw how sore he was after Epsom, I didn't think he'd be running in an Irish Derby so he has a great constitution and healing powers."
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