Gosdens taking time before plotting Paris route for Friendly Soul Friendly Soul will return to her beloved ParisLongchamp on Sunday week, with a tilt at the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe still in the mix. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the George Strawbridge-owned five-year-old won the Prix de l’Opera in her last start before nearly 600 days off the track in 2024 and could bid to win that race for a second time. However, she holds a ticket ready to be stamped for Europe’s richest middle-distance contest having thrived in her first outing over a mile and a half in the French capital earlier this month, her second Group One triumph on the Bois de Boulogne. Thady Gosden said: “She’s got the free entry to the Arc having won the Prix Vermeille and she’s in the Prix de l’Opera as well so we don’t have to make the decision yet, but she’s in good form and has won over the Arc course and distance. “She was good in the Vermeille and there is only one Arc, but we will have to see how both races are shaping up and obviously both look strong at the moment. We’ll also have to see what the weather does and see what Mr Strawbridge would like to do. Both races are a possibility at the moment.” Friendly Soul’s journey has been somewhat remarkable given she was the horse who when making her comeback from an extended layoff, lost her hoof down the collapsed drain which curtailed racing at Haydock for a period of the season. She then suffered trouble in running when a luckless third to the all-conquering Blue Bolt at Royal Ascot and then bumped into an on-song Diamond Necklace in the Nassau at Goodwood before making a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure on Arc Trials day. Gosden added: “She didn’t have the most smooth start to the season after plenty of time off and it’s brilliant to see her back to winning races last time. “She’s a very forthright filly and it wasn’t the plan to go to the front the first time trying a mile and a half, but she took (jockey) James (Doyle) there and put up a huge performance.”
