Racing action from ParisLongcchamp© Photo Healy Racing
The Prix de l’Arc deTriomphe is always an eagerly awaited finale to the European Flat season but this year’s renewal promises to be one of the best yet.
The one mile four furlongs Group 1 contest has been voted World’s Best Race on four occasions and will take place on Sunday October 4 at ParisLongchamp Racecourse on the outskirts of Paris.
This year’s race will give the John Gosden trained super mare Enable a second chance to become the first to ever triple winner of the race. The Khalid Abdullah owner six year old won back to back Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe’s in 2017 and 2018 before being narrowly denied the elusive hat-trick by Waldgeist in 2019.
Enable’s preparation for this year’s race has gone pretty smoothly. She was beaten on her first start of the campaign over an inadequate ten furlongs by the highly impressive front-runner Ghaiyyath at Sandown before notching up win number fourteen of her career when easily dismissing last year’s Irish Derby winner Sovereign and his stablemate Japan at Ascot.
Enable© Photo Healy Racing
Despite all roads leading to Paris for the daughter of Nathaniel, Enable is no longer clear favourite with the bookmakers for October’s race. That honour is currently held by the Irish trained three year old filly Love.
Love, trained in Co. Tipperary by Aidan O’Brien, has been flawless so far this season with wide margin victories in both the English 1000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks and heads the antepost betting market at odds of 11/4. Enable is close on her heals at 3/1. Check out the latest bookmaker offers at bookmakercodes.co.uk
O’Brien has won the race twice before with Dylan Thomas (2007) and Found (2016).
Other strong contenders for this year’s Arc include Enable’s star stablemate Stradavarius. The winner of sixteen races include seven at Group 1 level Stradivarius has been the dominant force in British staying races over the last four seasons and now gets his first shot at the coveted Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Ghaiyyath has beaten both Enable and Stradivarius this season with his bold front-running style and adds an extra dimension to year’s race. He is currently quoted at odds of 8/1.
The French will be hoping for a local victory and have several likely candidates such as last year’s third placed horse Sottsass and the three year old filly Raabihah.
All told this year’s race is looking like a vintage renewal and should provide European racing fans from Malmo to Madrid with a spectacular finish to a most unusual season.
