For readers unfamiliar with the name, Overdose was a high-class Hungarian sprinter, trained Sandor Ribarski, who won 16 of his 19 races and was, at one point, hailed as arguably the best horse to emerge from the ‘Heart of Europe’ since the legendary Kincsem in the late nineteenth century. Likewise, Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp is a prestigious and valuable Group 1 race, nowadays worth €350,000 in prize money, which is run over 1,000 metres, or approximately five furlongs, at Longchamp Racecourse in the Bois de Bolologne, Paris. Named after the Royal Abbey of Longchamp, which once stood on the site, the race takes place on the same day as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, traditionally the first Sunday in October.
On October 5, 2008, Overdose, hitherto unbeaten in his first 10 starts, lined up, alongside 19 rivals, for his first attempt at the highest level in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp. Ridden by Austrian jockey Andreas Suborics, Overdose was smartly away and made most of the running to win comfortably. Despite being eased down in the closing stages, his winning time was only fractionally slower than the record 54.30 seconds set by ‘The Flying Filly’ Habibti 25 years earlier.
However, unbeknown to Suborics, when the stalls opened, stall 17 failed to do so, leaving Fleeting Spirit, ridden by Ryan Moore, stranded at the start. Inevitably, a false start was signalled, but Suborics, among others, continued riding all the way to the finish line. The Prix de l’Abbaye could not be re-run immediately and when it was, nearly five hours later, Overdose was, understandably, one of three withdrawals from the original field. Ribarski, equally understandably, expressed his disappointment, saying, ‘I have travelled 1,700 kilometres for this’.