Favourite Enable lands good draw for Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp

Enable has escaped a double-figure draw which is seen by many jockeys and trainers to hinder their horse’s prospects and has come away with a favourable slot in stall six for the weekend’s Group 1 feature race.

Twelve months on from a stunning success at Chantilly, Gosden’s star will be bidding for a unique double as well as the £2,5m in prize money in what will be her first visit to Longchamp.

However Gosden’s other prize asset, Cracksman, will miss Sunday’s spectacle due to the ground conditions. The trainer had indicated that the son of Frankel run in France hinged on rain softening the ground. Instead the Coronation Cup winner, who was pitched as fourth favourite, will bid to defend his QIPCO Champion Stakes crown at Ascot in his final race on 20 October where he could face stablemate Roaring Lion and King George runner-up Crystal Ocean.

Frankie Dettori set to ride Enable who is favourite for The Arc ahead of Irish and Yorkshire Oaks winner Sea Of Class who was a late addition to the line-up. Trained by William Haggas, Sea Of Class was given a supplementary entry at a cost of 120,000 euros (£107,000) to complete the field of 19 runners and is bidding to emulate her sire, Sea The Stars, who won the big race in 2009.

After two years away at Chantilly, The Arc is now back at its redeveloped and rebranded spiritual home, ParisLongchamp, and it would be a fitting return if Enable becomes the eighth horse to record two victories in the prestigious and lucrative race – Treve (2013 and 2014) being the most recent.

The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the definitive highlight of the European Flat racing season and Sunday’s seven race card which also includes the Group 1 rated Prix de l’Opéra Longines. Open to both fillies and mares aged three years or older and run over a distance of 2,000 metres, there is another strong field in prospect with the Haggas-trained Urban Fox (ridden by James Doyle), Sir Michael Stoute’s Desert Diamond (under Oisin Murphy) and Charlie Appleby’s Wild Illusion (with William Buick) all strong contenders.

That is even without the inclusion of a trio of horses trained by Aidan O’Brien. Son and jockey Donnacha O’Brien will look to follow up a hat-trick of winners at last Saturday’s Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket when riding Rhododendron, with the trainer also saddling Athena (under Seamie Heffernan) and Magic Wand.

That race is followed by the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines where elite sprinter Battaash will hope to bounce back after suffering a shock defeat on his most recent start at York to repeat its success of last year

Trained by Charlie Hills, the four-year-old son of Dark Angel won in emphatic fashion 12 months ago, and is the big favourite to repeat the feat despite not carrying winning form into the five-furlong sprint.
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