Sunday sees the Prix de l ‘Arc de Triomphe meeting head to the revamped ParisLongchamp after two years at Chantilly. The venue may have changed but the quality of the card is as good as ever, with six Group 1s for Thoroughbreds alone.
The Arc itself has a top-class field of 19, for which Enable is the prohibitive favourite at 10/11. Her brilliance over the past two seasons means that it is somewhat brave to take on John Gosden’s filly as she aims to emulate Treve, the most recent dual winner of the race.
However, while she looked very good at Kempton last time, that was only a Group 3 and Sir Michael Stoute has subsequently ditched the Arc plans of runner-up Crystal Ocean. Furthermore, we still don’t know the extent of the injury which ruled her out of most of the season; any lingering trace of which may well be found out here.
Bearing in mind Enable’s skinny price, second-favourite Sea Of Class makes more appeal. Her draw in 15 is a tricky one, but James Doyle has demonstrated cool on her before and will make his challenge as late as possible. The main point in her favour, however, is the eight pounds she will receive from Enable as the only three-year-old filly in the field. She’ll need luck in running, but that and her natural talent might be enough to swing it in her favour.
Sea Of Class gets the nod, but don’t ignore Waldgeist, who has been aimed at this all season by Andre Fabre, while any rain would bring Defoe – who would have surely won his Group 1 in Germany last time if he hadn’t gone so wide – into the mix.
Onto the undercard, which gets underway with the Prix Marcel-Boussac for two-year-olds. Charlie Appleby has won the last two runnings of this, but his Ceratonia may again have to play second fiddle to the unbeaten Rocques who beat her in the Prix de Aumale last time. She looks the one here.
The colts’ equivalent, the Group 1 Jean Luc Lagardere, has a paltry field of six, but two of them are unbeaten. Richard Hannon’s Boitron hasn’t been seen since winning a Listed race at Newbury in August. He’s exciting, but preference is for Freddy Head’s Anodor who brings in course form, having won the Group 3 Prix du Chenes last time out.
The fillies’ version of the Arc is the Prix de l’Opera over a mile and two furlongs. Wild Illusion deserves to be favourite and the break since her Nassau win isn’t a concern, with Appleby always having had this race as her main target. Fellow Group 1 winner With You, next best in the market, is feared most.
The five furlong Prix de l’Abbaye is typically strong and favourite Battaash is by no means infallible. He was brilliant in this race last year and also at Goodwood in August. But was beaten a long way out behind the re-opposing Alpha Delphini at York, so the latter’s price of 14/1 seems generous. It’s a race in which you can make a case for most of the field, but Sheikh Hamdan’s second string, Tantheem looked very good when beating City Light in the prep for this last time. As a three-year-old filly, she also gets weight from most of the field.
The Prix de la Foret is famously Europe’s only seven furlong Group 1, for which a field of 16 has assembled. Polydream is short enough at 6/4 but nailed James Garfield on the line last time out in the six and a half furlong Prix Maurice du Gheest at Deauville. That run suggested this is the perfect distance for her and she’s very much the one to beat.
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