By Tom Frary
A field of 16 will take part in Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp, with Aidan O'Brien responsible for the only withdrawals on Thursday morning with the expected easy ground unsuitable for Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). That leaves the G1 Irish Derby hero Los Angeles (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) to represent Ballydoyle with the Wertheimers' G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Sosie (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) currently shading favouritism for an open renewal of the mile-and-a-half monument.
Sosie, who bids to provide Andre Fabre with a record-extending ninth edition, has drawn favourably in five while Al Shaqab Racing and Ballylinch Stud's G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Look De Vega (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is in eight and Los Angeles will start from stall 10. Susumu Fujita's G1 Irish Champion Stakes third Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) will attempt to bring Japan's long wait for an Arc hero to an end from stall 11, while Juddmonte's G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Pretty Polly Stakes winner Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}) is in three. Drawn widest of all is Baron Edouard De Rothschild's multiple group 1 winner Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), while two other notables are the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin winner Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Coolmore's Delius (GB) (Frankel {GB}) drawn in nine and seven respectively.
Ralph Beckett was one of the first to reflect on the draw, which heavily favours Bluestocking. “It's a real bonus I think,” he said at Salisbury. “I haven't gone through it yet, but she's tactically adaptable so we'll ride our race to suit. She's better at a mile and a half and whatever happens, she's been a star. To win two group 1s is as much or more than we had hoped for this year.”
One who could yet miss out is Liberty Racing's Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who was only 11th 12 months ago. The G1 Grosser Preis von Baden winner needs the ground to dry out according to the owners' representative Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten. “At this moment it is 50-50, we will wait for the ground on Sunday morning,” he said. “We hope for 3.5 on the French going stick, more than 3.6 is not good for him to bring his A-game so if the ground is more than 3.6, we will not run. We will decide on Sunday morning, if we get rain on Sunday we will wait to decide, perhaps after the first race or the second race. If not we will go to the Breeders' Cup Turf, that's our plan B.”
The Christophe Ferland-trained Vermeille runner-up Aventure (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was confirmed for the main event in favour of the G1 Prix de l'Opera and the Wertheimer's racing manager Pierre-Yves Bureau said, “I think she ran very well in the Vermeille and has won two group races this year over a mile and a half, so she loves the distance. We thought about the l'Opera, but we decided that might be a bit short for her and it was worth taking a chance against the colts in the big race. It is all related to the mile and a half that she needs.”
The Lead-Up…
Friday's action at Saint-Cloud begins the long build-up to the ParisLongchamp showpiece, with the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon Club de Turquie looking at the mercy of Peter Maher, Carl Fitzgerald and John Baxter's unbeaten TDN Rising Star Maranoa Charlie (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), rated the best he had trained by Christopher Head after his latest Chantilly romp. Ballydoyle's star stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) faces four in Saturday's G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran, while a field of 16 has been confirmed for a wide-open renewal of the same card's G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu and Newmarket's G1 Sun Chariot Stakes features the soon-to-be-retired Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}).
Inspiral will be ridden by Robert Havlin on her probable swansong and he said on Thursday, “She's won six group 1s, so I think anyone would be delighted to pick up the ride on her. I won on her first time out, I've ridden her out–I've lost count how many times I've ridden her work–and I also did some stalls work on her on Monday. Trying to get her out of the stalls a bit quicker, so just tweaking a few things.”
“Her last couple of pieces of work have been nice and she's a filly that, apart from her 2-year-old career, has never actually been through the whole year without being beaten a couple of times before hitting a winning streak, so let's hope. She's never been beaten on the Rowley Mile, even though she's only been there twice, but they were both group 1s so it's a track she knows well and we are hoping for a big run.”
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