Godolphin high hopes for Sakhee

Confidence is high in the Godolphin camp that hot Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe-Lucien Barriere favourite Sakhee can overcome his unfavourable wide draw in Sunday`s Longchamp showpiece.

Runaway winner of the Juddmonte International at York in August, Sakhee was handed stall 15 after 17 horses were declared today for the 12-furlong contest.

'I am not worried about the draw,' trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said. 'It is a mile and a half and Frankie (Dettori) will have time to look after him very well in the race. I would like to see him keep him prominent.

'He was second at a mile and a half in the Derby (to Sinndar at Epsom in 2000), and I think he will stay the distance, but I think a mile and a quarter is the best trip for him.'

Sakhee is 2-1 favourite with Ladbrokes for the big race, won by Godolphin with Lammtarra in 1995, and owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum is upbeat about his colt`s chances.

'If he stays a mile and a half - which we believe he will - he is the one to beat,' he said. 'At a mile and a quarter it is very difficult to put a horse above him. At a mile and a half we don`t know - he has to prove it.'

Other leading contenders for the traditional end-of-season European championship enjoyed mixed fortune when the draw was announced.

Sir Michael Stoute`s Little Rock is on Sakhee`s immediate outside with French Derby winner Anabaa Blue widest of all.

Foreign Affairs, supplemented by Sir Mark Prescott on Thursday, fared little better when he was handed stall 13.

'It`s not very helpful but there we are,' said Prescott of his John Smith`s Cup winner.

Foreign Affairs also finished a gallant second in the Tote Ebor and Prescott added: 'He`s paid for it unlike some of them. He`s paid every bit of his transport and supplementary so he`s entitled to go and have a crack.'

Aidan O`Brien`s Rothmans Royals St Leger hero Milan starts from stall one.

O`Brien said: 'He`s well and I hope he runs his race.

'I haven`t spoken to Michael (Kinane) yet about the draw.

'He`s a good ground horse, and so the better the ground the better it will be for him.

'We are very happy with him. We hoped he would be an Arc horse after the Great Voltigeur - we thought he was a good mile-and-a-half horse - and the Leger fitted in nicely.'

Stoute`s Golan, winner of the Prix Niel last time, a race that has produced the last six Arc winners, and the Michael Jarvis-trained Holding Court were ideally positioned in six and seven respectively.

That will come as a relief to Golan`s big-race jockey Kieren Fallon, who has stressed all week the importance to the Sagitta 2000 Guineas winner of a low draw.

Jarvis is quietly hopeful of a good run from his 2000 French Derby winner, who loves to front run and trounced his field in the Chantilly race last year.

'You have to let him do his own thing - he enjoys doing that and it`s pointless trying to take him back,' Jarvis, who won the Arc with Carroll House in 1989, told the Racing Channel.

O`Brien`s Saddler`s Creek will act as pacemaker for his better-fancied stablemate but that is not too much of a worry to Jarvis.

'If the pacemaker wants to go even faster than we can then he will be going pretty fast,' he added.

'He`s got the reputation of being a soft ground horse because it was very soft when he won the French Derby but he`s run some good races on good ground. But it`s going to be testing ground this weekend I`m sure.

'He`s run three good races this year at the top level.'

Asked if he could be another Carroll House, Jarvis added: 'He`s a different type of horse to Carroll House.

'Carroll House was a real tough horse and liked to battle. Holding Court is very talented but might not have the constitution of Carroll House.'

Two fancied fillies, Aquarelliste and Diamilina, rub shoulders in four and three respectively.

King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes third Hightori, who landed the Prix Foy on his latest start, is in stall nine, and last year`s runner-up Egyptband has been drawn next door in 10.

Longchamp was bathed in sunshine today with the ground drying out slightly to 3.9 on the penetrometer, and 3.8 on the inner rail, but racecourse manager Gerard Grandchamp warned of more rain to come tomorrow.

He said: 'It`s fine at the moment but we are due a bit of rain tomorrow, with a dry day forecast for Sunday.

'It looks like being very soft, but not as bad as it was a couple of years ago.'

A traditional large field goes to post for the Prix de l`Abbaye, with 19 declared for the five-furlong dash, with Gerald Mosse on Nuclear Debate bidding to become a rare French-trained winner.

Rock Of Gibraltar faces four rivals in the Grand Criterium, with nine fillies clashing in the Prix Marcel Boussac.

Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe-Lucien Barriere betting:

Tote: 9-4 Sakhee, 4-1 Aquarelliste, 9-2 Milan, 7-1 Hightori, 8-1 Golan, 10-1 Egyptband, 16-1 Anabaa Blue, 18-1 Diamilina, 20-1 Holding Court, 22-1 Foreign Affairs, 40-1 bar.

William Hill: 5-2 Sakhee (from 2), 7-2 Aquarelliste, 9-2 Milan, 7-1 Hightori, 8-1 Golan (from 13-2), 9-1 Egyptband, 14-1 Diamilina, 16-1 Foreign Affairs, 20-1 Anabaa Blue, 33-1 Holding Court, 40-1 Idaho Quest, 50-1 bar.

Ladbrokes: 2-1 Sakhee, 4-1 Aquarelliste, 9-2 Milan, 6-1 Hightori, 7-1 Golan, 10-1 Egyptband, 12-1 Diamilina, 14-1 Anabaa Blue, 20-1 Holding Court, 25-1 Foreign Affairs, Idaho Quest, 33-1 bar.