Top Trainers to Keep an Eye on in the Arc One of the biggest races of the year will soon be upon us, with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe taking place at Longchamp on Sunday. We appear to have one of the most open renewals in years on our hands and that makes it a fascinating puzzle to solve. The most recent forfeit stage has left us with a potential field of 17, although there could be fewer runners by the time of final declarations. It’s always important to consider who the trainer is in races such as this, so we’ve selected five to watch. Among them is the race’s winning-most trainer Andre Fabre but there’s also an Irish raider who is impossible to ignore once again. Andre Fabre The legendary Andre Fabre has won this race a record eight times and he has two chances of making it nine. Sosie is a 12/1 shot and he was ante-post favourite for a while, after winning the Prix Ganay and Prix d'Ispahan. Fabre's other runner is the interesting outsider Cualificar in the Godolphin blue. This progressive sort was runner-up to Camille Pissarro in the Prix de Jockey Club and returned to winning ways in the Prix Niel, a recognised three—year-old trial for the Arc. Christophe Ferland Ferland is represented by only one horse here but she is vying for favouritism in the market and rightfully so. Aventure ran a screamer to finish second to Bluestocking in this race last year and has had an excellent campaign so far. She won a couple of lesser Group races in the early period of the season before coming up against King George winner Calandagan. She returned to winning ways in the Prix Vermeille last time out and that run should set her up perfectly for this. Francis-Henri Graffard Graffard is at the top of the trainers’ championship in France with an insurmountable lead of well over €2,000,000. He has three Arc entries and the most likely winner is probably Prix de Diane winner Gezora, who is set to be ridden by Tom Marquand. Mickael Barzalona’s mount Daryz is a talented horse, who has won at Group 2 level this season. He was found out in the Juddmonte International though, and perhaps Jean Romanet winner Quisisana is more interesting at 33/1. Jean-Claude Rouget Rouget has been included on this list as a result of his recent record in the race. He has won two of the last five runnings and can’t be dismissed with that in mind. Both of his runners are massive prices and although victory seems unlikely, perhaps one could run into a place. Leffard is inconsistent but he is a 50/1 shot and that seems like a generous offer given that he won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris on his penultimate start. Arrow Eagle has been progressive but struggled when upped to Group 2 level in the Prix Foy. Aidan O’Brien This is not a race that O’Brien does particularly well in generally speaking, which is a rarity, but he does have two successes to his name, with the most recent being Found in 2016. Minnie Hauk is right up there at the top of the market and the three-year-old filly has improved with every run so far this season. She won the Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks and further progress can’t be ruled out. Los Angeles finished third last year, which was an excellent effort, but he appears to have regressed somewhat this season. He turned in a poor effort in the Prix Foy last time out and while it’s always dangerous to rule out O’Brien's runners, it’s hard to see him coming out on top this year.
