Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Totesport: 5-4 Authorized, 5-2 Soldier Of Fortune, 9-2 ZambeziSun, 7-1 Dylan Thomas, 12-1 Mandesha, 16-1 Saddex, 20-1 Sagara, 33-1 Getaway, Youmzain, 100-1 Dragon Dancer, Red Rock Canyon, Yellowstone, 200-1 Acapulco, Archipenko, Song Of Hiawatha.

The horse for money is Mandesha.

She'll look pretty in her cheek pieces. :D

Is she definitley wearing them? When the trainer came on TV the other day he hadn't decided whether she would wear them or not.

This race will much depend on the stat of the ground.

I think Good to soft ground would be brilliant for us watching the race as that would give most a chance. Dylan might not like it, though.

If it is going to be any softer, it could really damage the race this year, as i think he might see a 'plodder' winning it.

Still going for Authorized and Mandesha :). Although I wouldn't mind it if Dragon Dancer did well, too...ohh, and Zambezi Sun.

Gee I thought she was. We'll see.

You know, I think it could be an upset this year and you know who is interesting?

Saddex.

I think you're right about the ground and it seems ideal for this boy. He skipped the Grosser Preis von Baden (sp?) so he'd run fresh, won all three this year..... I think he's got a shot.

Senitmental pick? Dylan or Red Rock of course BUT.....

Just seen another interview and, yep, it does look like she will be wearing them. Apparently she has sparkled in her work with them on.

Saddex won't be a big shock. Down to 16/1 now apparently.

Anything but Authorized for me. I won't be betting, so it won't matter really

I've never seen Authorized winning here.....

Youmzain is a ridiculous price.. he should go on anything and the quicker the better.. Id much rather back him than anyone double digits in fornt of him..

True. They are likely to go a strong clip on Sunday and he will keep going all day. It's quite possible that he will be the shock that i'm thinking about.

Forecast is dry from now until Sunday and supposed to be quite warm with a breeze tomorrow. The course is expecting good to soft for the Arc, with an outside chance of good ground.

On good ground i can't see anything beating Dylan Thomas, but it will need to be officially good.

He's disappointed me too many times but good luck, birthday boy.

You're right, he has disappointed many people, but he does need a certain type of race. He needs a strong pace over a mile and half. He goes on almost any ground (apart from extremes).

On the face of it, he has seemed rather disappointing so far this year. Remember Dubai though, he got a strongly run race over 12 furlongs and ran a cracker.

He should get the race run to suit on Sunday and he might just shock a few people.

Brock, one of my mates has just informed me that Youmzain is 65 on Betfair!!!!!

I'm only familiar with a few of these horses so I'll go with a longshot to hit the board-Dragon Dancer. His name was the first to catch my eye.
Will it be televised here? I suppose if not, TVG will show it on "The Finish Line".


And as an American I would like to state that I am not a Starbucks fan although I do consume a great deal of coffee.:)

It should be televised here on either HRTV or TVG.... But TVG hasn't shown any other races from Longchamp this year, so I don't know if they're not showing it like how they didn't the DWC this year, either. At any rate, the replay will be somewhere.

The Arc is great but not the race it was 25 years. Before the BC, Japan Cup, Hong Kong International.

25 runner races-made for a chance to make thousands on the Tierce betting Group 1 winning British/Irish horses who were sent off a telephone number prices.

Whilst I supported the maximum field size drop down to 20 in 1994-it now seems that they struggle to get more than 12 horses to post-even with 1 trainer trying his best to boost the field size-but to no avail as they have moved the Tierce race to a bog standard Handicap

I must admit, the Arc isn't what it used to be. It has gone downhill within the last five years, also.

I'm not excited about the Arc at all this year, maybe it's because the three year olds aren't exactly brilliant. I'm not sure, but it really isn't exciting me like it has done in past years.

In fact, the 'under' card at Longchamp on Saturday and Sunday are far more exciting.

I really think there will be a shock in the Arc this year, and many people will feel slightly robbed of what should be a great race.

Agreed.

By the way it sucks Fallon rides in the Arc on Sunday and has to be back in court the following day.

I wouldnt necessarlily agree that the Arc has gone way downhill. It still is THE race to win in Europe and we had a top class field last year with a worthy winner (who didnt show his full potential!). There are 3 good 3yos at the top of the market and I feel that the 2 who could race next year (Soldier and Zambezi) will win and next year show how good they are.

As i say, i think the 'under' card races are better than the Arc is this year.

Saddex / Soldier of Fortune / Dylan

Come home safe everyone.

Dylan wins, Youmzain second......... a fantastic result for me!

Authorized stuffed............ YES!


Could be a stewards enquiry................ hope not.

the winner was all over the track and looks to have bothered a couple of other runners.

Looks like Dylan and Kieren could be in a bit of trouble.

Youmzain might end up winning this yet.

In England that wouldn't be a problem, because he hasn't affected the final result. In France, however if you touch another horse (whether the other horse has a chance at the time or not...... you're in trouble).

I'm just happy that i tipped up Youmzain and that Authorized got stuffed.

Longest inquiry ever....

The French rules really annoy me. The course that Dylan took has not affected the result in any way at all. The horses he slightly knocked were all beaten at the time.

He hasn't affected the result, but he is likely to lose the race.

Pathetic rules. The best horse on the day has won, and it looks like he will denied the victory!

Well done to Youmzain who ran a cracker to finish 2nd, i always thought he could run well today.

Looks like he has been allowed to keep the race.


Good on the French Stewards.

Cheers to Dylan. :)

Did you watch it?

So glad they didn't change the result. Although i like Youmzain, i would have been sick if he got the race.

Yes and yes.

Thought I'd have a panic attack.

Didn't think Dylan could get it done here and thought it set up for a longshot but i'm happy to be proven wrong.

Oh and a big congrats to Benbaun for his first G1!!!!! (... and for winning away from The Curragh).

Poor Moss.

Well, we were very close when we said there could be a big shock. I'm not sure if i'm more happy with Dylan and Youmzain or becuase Authorized finished nearly last (i'm cruel, i know).

Good luck to Darley, who have spent something like £15million on what looks to be a slow, soft ground loving stallion. Darley will be breeding 3mile hurdle winners in a couple of years :D

I couldn't see Moss during his race...... the camera angles are crap for the sprint over there.

Mossie did well! :)



BAUN SUPREMACY IN ABBAYE

Benbaun has made the Curragh his home-from-home but he could not have picked a better place to collect a rare 'away' success than by spearheading a British-dominated Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp.

Six times victorious at the Irish track, it has been over three years since he won anywhere else and he has given trainer Mark Wallace plenty of anxious moments.

A predilection for fast ground had been one of the potential stumbling blocks for Benbaun (13-2) but Wallace was happy after taking a look at the track.

There was not much to worry about once the five-furlong dash started and Pat Smullen got first run on Kingsgate Native to power home by two lengths.

Last year's winner Desert Lord was the same distance away in third, with Moss Vale and 2003 hero Patavellian rolling back the years for a British-trained clean sweep of the first five places.

Newmarket-based Irishman Wallace said: "We've looked after him and haven't run him in every race.

"We were worried about the ground but we walked the track and it wasn't too soft, so we thought we'd take our chance.

"He burst (a blood vessel) at Royal Ascot, so we were worried it might happen again.

"The vets have done a great job as he's just had niggly problems all the way through.

"I've been training four and a half years, this is my first Group One, so it's a dream come true.

"He's definitely going to Hong Kong in December - if they invite him and I think they might! Then we might go to Australia. He's got very few miles on the clock, so we will try and come back next year."

John Best's Kingsgate Native, who broke the mould by winning the Nunthorpe Stakes as a juvenile, proved the effort was no fluke.

His rider Jimmy Quinn reported: "The winner went away and was always holding me.

"He handled the ground OK but on good ground he is even better.

"The placings might have been different with another 12 months on his back."

Im delighted for Fallon, O'Brien and Coolmore for winning the Arc on such a good horse like Dylan. It was a cracking race with Youmzain proving us believers right - 80-1 was some price (would have been better if he won!). Dont really know what happened to Authorized. I thought he was in a strange position so far back (draw probably forced his hand), but seeing that Youmzain, Saddex, Gateway all came flying late, you would have thought that he would have used his acceleration to good effect. The ground looked a little quicker than good to soft. Was that too quick for him? I dont know, but its not a great way to leave the racing world.

I backed Youmzain for a place, and Dylan for the win. I got 7/1 about Dylan (which was stupid) and just under 12/1 about Youmzain finishing in the three!

As long at he (Youmzain) gets a fast pace, he is a proper Gr1 horse and shouldn't have been anywhere near that sort of price today. I thought 33's was big enough!

I've been saying for a long time that Authorized is just a soft ground horse, and in my opinion he proved that today. As you mentioned, all the principles came from well off the pace. There was no reason Authorized couldn't. I don't think he is quick enough to cope with anything other than soft ground. For a 2yo to win over a mile in heavy shows you how much stamina he has.

under french rules though, i cant believe dylan wasnt thrown out..

True. It's a mixed bag with the French stewards, sometimes they are gone, sometimes not.

However, me being cynical, i do think he would have been thrown out if a French horse was second. The fact that it was a Channon horse that was second made it more likely Dylan would keep it. Channon and the Longchamp stewards don't get on, do they!

exactly as i said on the thread in the main section.. and methinks if murtagh was on board dylan, pasqualier may have been a bit more furious..

the strange thing was that usually in france, if you interfere with one horse, you get thrown. Dylan interfered with 3! and although he had his whip in his right hand, he didnt drop it to try and correct his mount which the rules state he should. any other race in france, he would have gone..

from a personal view im delighted for all of coolmore, but on a financial level, im gutted. it would have made it my best weekend ever. I doubt many people could say they backed 100-1 and 80-1 winners in G1s in consecutive days..

I'm pretty sure it would have been different if the second and thrid place finishers had finished the other way around.

Channon was delighted with Youmzain as he thought there were thre or four that would beat him, so maybe he wasn't as tough as he could have been. He and the French stewards don't get along after the Yasdood incident.

Racing is like that, which is a shame in many cases, but today the best horse won.

I do think our rules are the best. As long as the final result isn't affected, the result should stand. Like it did today.

I agree 100%..