Daryz won the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second year running at Longchamp on Sunday afternoon. Francis-Henri Graffard’s colt and Mickaël Barzalona came from off the pace to beat Bay City Roller, with Diamond Necklace third and Friendly Soul fourth.
In doing so, the Aga Khan Studs’ four-year-old has written his name into the history books. He is only the ninth horse to win the Arc twice, and the first colt to win back-to-back renewals since Alleged in 1977 and 1978.
Daryz joins the Arc’s elite
12 months ago, Daryz got up late to beat Minnie Hauk by a head at 12/1. This time there was no sneaking under the radar. He arrived as the defending champion and ante-post favourite, and he delivered in the style of a horse who knows his way around Longchamp’s 1m4f.
Having been handed a favourable berth in stall five at Thursday’s draw, Barzalona was happy to hold the son of Sea The Stars up and wait. When the race began in earnest down the straight, Daryz picked up to reel in the leaders and put the race to bed, with Bay City Roller left chasing his shadow for the second race in a row after their Prix Foy match-up.
This crowns a near-flawless campaign. Daryz won the Prix Ganay and the Prix Aga Khan IV before a blip in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, then returned to form in the Prix Foy. He now joins Enable, who won in 2017 and 2018, as a back-to-back Arc winner, and Graffard can lay claim to one of the great modern middle-distance horses.
Bay City Roller runs a huge race in second
It was the Prix Foy all over again for Bay City Roller, who once again had to settle for second behind Daryz. This was far from a disappointment though. George Scott’s colt broke from stall 15, the second widest of all, and ran on strongly under Oisin Murphy to pick up the runner-up spot.
Scott spent the build-up hoping for rain, given the son of New Bay is at his best with some cut in the ground. He took his chance regardless, and the ten-length Coronation Cup winner showed he belongs at the very top table. The Champion Stakes at Ascot had been mentioned as an alternative target, and he will be an interesting proposition wherever he goes next. Scott said to ITV afterwards that his runner-up was “an amazing racehorse” and congratulated a “gentleman” winner in Francis-Henri Graffard.
Diamond Necklace nearly defies widest draw
Few gave Diamond Necklace much hope when she came out of the hat in stall 16, and she drifted in the betting accordingly. Christophe Soumillon was undeterred, and the Aidan O’Brien-trained filly led briefly in the straight before being swallowed up by the front two.
Considering this was her first try at 1m4f, and from the car park at that, it was a fine effort from the daughter of St Mark’s Basilica. She bounced back from her defeat to Aventure at Deauville and was the best of Ballydoyle’s trio, with the Irish Derby winner Benvenuto Cellini and last year’s runner-up Minnie Hauk both out of the first four.
Friendly Soul fourth for the Gosdens
John and Thady Gosden’s Friendly Soul was a late addition to the field after her Prix Vermeille success, and she more than justified her place. Ridden prominently by James Doyle from stall seven, she stayed on gamely to hold fourth.
That is a fine effort from a filly who was off the track for 594 days after her Prix de l’Opéra win in 2024, and she has now proven herself at the very highest level over 1m4f.
No joy for Maltese Cross and Kalpana
The two leading British hopes in the market, Maltese Cross and Kalpana, were both unable to land a blow. Neither finished in the first four. William Haggas’ wait for a first Arc goes on, eight years after Sea Of Class was touched off by Enable, while Kalpana could not emulate Enable in following up King George and Yorkshire Oaks success in Paris.
There was disappointment too for Joseph O’Brien’s Oaks heroine Thundering On, who also missed out on the first four, while Japan’s long wait for a first Arc winner goes on for another year.
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2026 result
- Daryz – Mickaël Barzalona (Francis-Henri Graffard)
- Bay City Roller – Oisin Murphy (George Scott)
- Diamond Necklace – Christophe Soumillon (Aidan O’Brien)
- Friendly Soul – James Doyle (John & Thady Gosden)