Having been slow to leave the stalls, taking 5.6s to reach 30 mph and running an opening furlong that ranked in the bottom half of the field, Soumillon found himself towards the rear of the field and tucked in on the inside rail. Trapped behind a wall of horses, it would have been very easy to panic, but instead Soumillon chose to wait. Instead of switching wide, he held his line around the turn and allowed his mount to travel into the contest, waiting for the gaps to hopefully appear in front of him. A top speed of 41.36 mph meant that Dark Trooper ranked 11th and I think it is also worth noting that his average stride length figure of 24.22 ft was shorter than the next 3 horses to chase him home. This wasn’t entirely a case of the pace collapsing and a long striding stayer weaving his way through the field, though there is a case that the fast pace set in the rush to the first turn played a part in this. Instead, it’s about the patience and skill of Christophe Soumillon, who picked the gaps and then chose to pull his mount to his left to get a clear run into the final furlong. Coming off the inside rail to get past 3 horses that were all tiring was one thing, but to then arrest that movement to the left, straighten his mount and run through a gap to the right hand side of the eventual 3rd (Make Me King) was a moment of genius. Had he continued to his left, he would have found the path blocked by the fast-finishing runner-up Marbaan and in that circumstance, we would have been noting Dark Trooper as a dreaded unlucky loser. Instead, we can focus on a brilliant piece of horsemanship from a jockey who is the best in the business for this type of ride. The closing data is the key. Dark Trooper recorded a late speed figure of 39.46 mph, a clear race best figure (next best Andreas Vesalius 38.53 mph) and a run-out speed of 37.67 mph. His average stride length reached its peak in the closing stages and if anything, Dark Trooper appeared to win with something in hand.