Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe

The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is Europe’s richest Flat race, boasting a prize-money pot of €5 million. It is one of the most highly anticipated races in the worldwide racing calendar, with its prestige, value and history attracting spectators and competitors from around the globe to Longchamp in Paris.

• Length of the race – One mile and four furlongs.
• Where to watch – ITV.
• When to watch – Sunday, October 6 at 3:05 pm.
• Prize-money – The race is worth €5,000,000 with €2,857,000 going to the winner.
• Course – The race is run at Longchamp racecourse.
• Race type – Group 1.
• Weights –Three-year-olds carry 8st 12lb, horses aged four and older carry 9st 5lb.
• Fillies and mares get a 3lb allowance.
• Ages – The race is open to three-year-olds and above of both genders, except for geldings.
• Sponsor – Qatar Racing has sponsored the race since 2008.

Key stats

• Distance winner, ten winners in last ten runnings
• Aged three or four, 10/10 (six were three-year-olds)  
• Group 1 winner, 9/10
• Adjusted RPR of at least 131, 9/10
• Top-three finish last time out, 8/10
• Drawn in single figures, 7/10
• Won at least half their starts that season, 6/10
• Won a Group race last time out within last two months, 6/10

Other factors

• Solemia (2012) and Treve (2014) scored as four-year-olds, but the last French-trained older horse to win before that was Urban Sea in 1993.
• Solemia is the only one of the last ten winners not to have previously landed a Group 1, but she had won a Group 2 and had been placed at Group 1 level on her latest start.
• In the last 40 years there have been just two winners aged older than four (Tony Bin in 1988 and Marienbard in 2002 were five-year-olds).
• Andre Fabre has landed the Arc on seven occasions, six times with three-year-olds.
• Winners of the Arc trials fared as follows: Niel 34004030; Foy 07229064; Vermeille 799140.
• Winners of the Derby finished 117719; Irish Derby 600790; Irish Champion 1041.
• Seven of the last ten winners were fillies – the other three all won the Derby.

Key trials

The Arc attracts horses from all the top mile-and-a-half races around the world. This means the Derby and Oaks at Epsom and the King George VI Stakes at Ascot are good markers in the UK, while the Irish Derby and Irish Oaks are also used as trials. It’s not unusual to see Japanese horses who have contested the Japan Cup, despite there never having been a Japanese winner of the Arc. In France, the main trials are the Prix Niel, the Prix Foy and the Prix Vermeille.

What happened last year?

Enable claimed her second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in thrilling circumstances. Under Frankie Dettori, the wondermare hit the front with a furlong and a half to go and started to assert her authority. The race looked in the bag but the fast-finishing Sea Of Class gave Enable fans plenty to worry about as she closed at an alarming rate of knots. Enable’s winning distance was a short neck despite her having held a three-length lead at the half-furlong marker.

Where can I get Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe tickets?

Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe tickets can be purchased from the Longchamp website here.

Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe tip

Enable bids to land an unprecedented third Arc and is an even-money favourite to do so. The season has developed in an interesting way with regard to Arc contenders but one thing that has remained constant is the star mare’s form. Crystal Ocean looked a real challenger in the King George but Enable claimed his scalp, Magical looked to pose a threat in the Yorkshire Oaks but she made light work of her as well –  she has brushed aside all-comers in typical gutsy manner. She will take all the beating in Paris, but the improving Japan can’t be disregarded given he has Group 1 course form and beat Crystal Ocean at York, and the locals look well represented with Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass, but it is hard to envisage anything getting in front of the extraordinary Enable. (Joe Tuffin)

Enable

Japan

Sottsass