Reaching last Arc to big day

PARIS – One month away from the €5 million (S$7.36 million) Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the ParisLongchamp racecourse is warming up with the Arc Trials, headed by the Prix Vermeille, on Sept 6.

While those preludes have traditionally offered Arc contenders one final opportunity to fine-tune their preparations on the ParisLongchamp track ahead of the big race, France Galop has since 2025 also dangled a carrot with the introduction of a wild card to the Arc for the Trials winners.

The entry fee will be refunded to connections of the Trials winners. Furthermore, if these horses are not entered for the Arc, the late supplementary entry worth €120,000 will be waived.

Besides the €600,000 Group 1 Prix Vermeille for fillies and mares aged three and over, two other Group 2 races make up the Arc Trials, all run over the Arc trip of 2,400m: the €119,000 Prix Niel for three-year-old colts and fillies, and the €119,000 Prix Foy open to horses aged four and over.

The trio of prep races are not the only drawcard. The Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (1,600m) for three-year-olds and above will see some of Europe’s finest milers do battle.

The Purebred Arabians have not been left out. The €100,000 Group 1 Qatar Cup – Prix Dragon (2,000m) is the trial to the Qatar Arabian World Cup (2,000m), the world’s richest race for that breed at €1 million, held on the same day as the Arc on Oct 4.

Since the turn of the century, the Arc winner has come from the trials card in 11 out of 25 years, with five apiece coming from the Prix Vermeille and the Prix Niel and one via the Prix Foy.

Arguably, the Prix Vermeille has evolved into the key prep race with Zarkava (2008), Treve (2013) and Bluestocking (2024) completing the double, while Solemia (2012) and Treve (2014) were both beaten in the prep before landing the big one.

This year, the various Oaks formlines hold sway. Irish Oaks winner Johanna Walsh will run for Joseph O’Brien while, the French, German and Yorkshire Oaks runner-ups, Pink Panthera, Lapotheose and Sparan Nua are likely runners.

Leading Chantilly trainer Francis-Henri Graffard has entered as many as four, Sunly, Rabbit’s Foot, Gilded Prize and Calasita who is, however, not the biggest name for the Aga Khan Studs’ at that weekend.

As has been a customary presence and dominance in French features in the last couple of seasons, the emerald green silks will be particularly well represented in the other features by three of their home-breds.

All trained by Graffard, they are Erdenali in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, last year’s Arc winner Daryz in the Prix Foy and Varandir in the Prix Niel.

As a gelding, Erdenali is not eligible to run in the Arc, but the Caravaggio three-year-old still boasts credentials that warrant a first Group 1 test.

After a winning debut at Saint-Cloud on March 29, Erdenali followed up with two more victories, including the Listed Prix de Saint-Patrick (1,500m) at Deauville on June 27.

He then ran third in the Group 3 Prix Messidor (1,600m) on July 19 at Chantilly.

“We had several horses entered in this race, including Rayif, but we decided to give him some time after his victory in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, and also to give Erdenali his chance,” said Nemone Routh, racing manager for Aga Khan Studs in France.

“Last time, in the Prix Messidor, he was really unlucky and should have won. After discussing it, we decided we would take our chance in this Group 1 rather than run in another Group race.”

No doubt, the Aga Khan runner to garner the most attention will be Daryz in the Prix Foy.

Now a four-year-old, the son of Sea The Stars has raced three times this season for a first-up win in the Group 1 Prix Ganay (2,100m) at ParisLongchamp on April 26, before claiming the Group 1 Prix Aga Khan IV (1,800m) at the same racecourse on May 21.

He has not been seen since June 17, when he finished third to Ombudsman in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (2,000m) at Royal Ascot.

“Everyone is waiting to see Daryz. He is in really great form,” said Routh.

“At the moment, we find him very relaxed and focused. His jockey, Mickael Barzalona, really felt that he was listening to him.

“He won’t be at 100 per cent on Sunday because we want him to be at his peak for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which is our main objective.”

Daryz had Varandir as his sparring partner in a recent Deauville gallop. Routh was pleased with the Group 3 winner, even if the Varak colt has a stiff task in the Prix Niel.

“He knows the course well and is really well suited by this distance,” she said. “It will be a strong field, with Group 1 winners, so it is of course still quite a difficult race.” FRANCE GALOP

Additional reporting by Michael Lee