PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE
Sunday 2nd October
Luxembourg @ 7/2
Alpanista @ 5/1
Torquator Tasso @ 7/1
Titleholder @ 8/1
Vadeni @ 8/1
Westover @ 9/1
view odds
0-30. Not the kind of stat you would naturally associate with a trainer of Aidan O’Brien’s brilliance but that’s his record saddling three-year-olds in Europe’s premier middle-distance race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Will it bother him? Probably not. O’Brien has won the Arc twice with four-year-olds – his most recent winner, Found in 2016, led home a sensational 1-2-3.
What’s been happening? It looks to me to be a case of tired ammunition sprinkled with a generous helping of bad luck.
Genghis Khan was his first runner in 1999, also representing the Classic generation. Boldly-named, the equine Genghis Khan wasn’t much of a warrior but more of a pacemaker for the great Montjeu, who was in the same ownership but trained in Chantilly by John Hammond.
2001 was the year O’Brien had his first serious attempt at landing the Arc, which was with five-length St Leger winner Milan. Sadly, Milan found himself too far back in the race but stayed on well to finish fifth, unable to break the Leger curse in the Arc that Nijnisky, Kingston Hill, Capri and, more recently Hurricane Lane have fallen foul to.
O’Brien’s only three-year-old to finish on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe podium to date was High Chaparral, who finished third in 2002. There will be different theories as to why he remains the only one of thirty to this day, especially given the material that O’Brien has at his disposal in County Tipperary, but it must come down to O’Brien’s MO.
His three-year-olds are trained for the Guineas in May. They improve even further for the Oaks, Derby and Royal Ascot in June and then in the autumn he has the luxury of sending his middle distance horses all over the world to find their optimum conditions.
Irish Derby winners like Fame And Glory and Cape Blanco looked to have excellent chances in the Arc in their own right, but 2012 with Camelot felt very different at the time.
Different because Sue Magnier had reserved the name Camelot for ten years. Different because he had the precocity to win both a Racing Post Trophy and a 2000 Guineas. And, different because Coolmore had the cheek to poach Frankie Dettori from Godolphin for the ride, which was a huge deal at the time.
Fast forward to 2022 and Camelot may finally get his glorious Parisian revenge through his star son Luxembourg.
The 2000 Guineas third looked to hold a strong chance in the Derby but was sidelined this summer with muscle problems. He returned to win the Fitzdares Royal Whip following a break of more than three months and here at Fitzdares, we couldn’t have been happier to see him hold off Vadeni and co. in the Irish Champion on his next start.
Drawn in eight, we’ve now trimmed his odds into 7/2 and really like his chances since he not only won OUR race but he also avoids the fearsome Baaeed.
His summer break is so French and goes against pretty much everything that Aidan O’Brien would do with a Classic hope.
Perhaps this is the year that Aidan O’Brien lands the Arc with a three-year-old.
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