Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe Shaping Up To Be A Classic

This season’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October could turn out to be one of the best renewals of the premier middle-distance turf contest in Europe.

The crop of three-year-olds, particularly in the UK and Ireland, have been very strong which sets up a fascinating clash against the older generation in Paris at the back end of the season.

Snowfall Heads The Ante-Post Betting

Arguably the most impressive performance this season in the British and Irish Classics came from Snowfall. The Ballydoyle filly blew her rivals away in the Oaks at Epsom. In one of the most dominant performances in the race’s history, she prevailed by 16 lengths in the 1m4f contest.

A second Classic arrived in the Irish equivalent of the Oaks at the Curragh. Again, she was in a league of her own, scoring by just over eight lengths on that occasion.

The daughter of Deep Impact could appear next in the Yorkshire Oaks and will likely be one of the favourites in the York races odds if her recent races are anything to go by. O’Brien’s filly also has an entry in the Juddmonte International, but it will likely be some of her stablemates that feature in the latter instead.

If successful at Longchamp, Snowfall would join Treve and Enable on the recent roll of honour. They were victorious as three-year-old fillies in 2013 and 2017 respectively. Both also went on to defend their crown in the race 12 months later.

Derby Winner Adayar Expected To Line Up

The last Derby winner to go on to prevail in the Arc in the same year was Golden Horn in 2015. Connections of Adayar will be hoping their horse can go on to complete the double.

Charlie Appleby’s colt has already gone on to add to his tally since his win at Epsom. He beat the older horses in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. Mishriff, Love and Broome were all behind him at the Berkshire racecourse and proved no match for the Godolphin runner.

The Frankel colt may still be open to improvement. He will be receiving weight from the older generation at Longchamp. He also acts on soft ground so conditions at the French venue should not be a problem for him.

Breeders’ Cup Turf Winner Tarnawa Bidding For More Major Honours

Last season was a fantastic year for Dermot Weld’s mare Tarnawa as she won all four of her races on the track. Three of those came in Group One campaign, including on her last outing when she won the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland back in November.

The Irish-based mare was also victorious on Arc day in 2020. She scored in the Prix de l’Opera Longines, a race over 1m2f for fillies and mares. It is expected she could step up in distance this time for the feature race of the weekend.

The five-year-old’s form abroad will give her connections a lot of confidence. Her trainer has won just about every leading European race available but the Arc. The legendary Irish trainer has a great chance of finally landing the honours.

This year’s Prix de l’Arc Triomphe takes place on the 3 October.

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Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.