Weekend racing preview: Enable chases sporting immortality in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

The 15-runner contest is staged at 3.05pm over 12-furlongs and is live on ITV Racing.

The John Gosden-trained six-year-old boasts a glittering CV. A winner of 15 of her 18 career starts, she has won 11 Group One events and is bidding to become the first horse in the history of the Arc to win the contest three times.

She is set to be partnered by regular pilot Frankie Dettori, but it is worth noting that no six-year-old in the 100-year history of the contest has won the Arc, a statistic that Enable, the 5/4 favourite, will have to overcome.

However, Enable’s task has been made slightly easier following the news that Love, a three-time Group One winner for Aidan O’Brien, will miss the autumn showpiece on account of the testing conditions likely in Paris. Ryan Moore will now ride Mogul who tasted Group One success over course and distance in the Grand Prix de Paris.

He is one of four runners for the master of Ballydoyle, who is also set to be represented by runaway Derby hero Serpentine (12/1), 2019 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (66/1) and Juddmonte international winner Japan (11/1), who will be ridden by Japan’s legendary rider Yutaka Take.

Enable’s most significant challenger however could be her stable companion and former Doncaster Cup hero Stradivarius (6/1). He is likely to relish the testing conditions on show at ParisLongchamp and is a seven-time Group One winner as well as being one of the best stayers of all time. Given he stays at least a mile further than Sunday’s trip, he has to be feared even though he was beaten by Anthony Van Dyck, in the Prix Foy, a recognised Arc trial at the track in September.

The market mover in the race is In Swoop (9/1) who was second to Mogul (8/1) in the Grand Prix de Paris and a colt who relishes soft ground. Sottsass (8/1), third in last year’s Arc and stable companion Raabihah (12/1) are others to mention along with Persian King (14/1) who won the Prix du Moulin over a mile on his latest start and bids to give Andre Fabre a ninth winner in the Group One event.

The undercard at ParisLongchamp on Sunday also features Battaash (5/4) who targets a second win in the five-furlong Prix de L’Abbaye at 4.25pm. He has carried all before him this season with wins in the King’s Stand, King George V and Nunthorpe Stakes and should justify favouritism if handling the ground. Glass Slippers (10/3), who finished second to Battaash at Glorious Goodwood, and the prolific Irish sprinter Make A Challenge (6/1) also warrant a mention.

Saturday’s racing at Newmarket also warrants a mention with a field of 12 going to post for the Group One Sun Chariot Stakes over a mile at 2.45pm live on ITV Racing. Champers Elysees (7/2) continued her upwards trajectory with success in the Matron Stakes for Johnny Murtagh last time out and has been supplemented for this event by her new owner. Peaceful (4/1) won the Irish 1000 Guineas and was second to Champers Elysees last time out. She is respected along with Nazeef (11/2) who disappointed in the Prix Jean Romanet on her latest start. Half Light (10/1), a smart performer in France, and Terebellum (13/2), second in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, are others to note.

Recent St Leger second Berkshire Rocco (4/6) returns to action in the Listed Noel Murless Stakes at 2.30pm at Ascot on Friday. He takes on three rivals and looks to hold outstanding claims of recording a first win of the season. Trained by Andrew Balding, he filled the runner-up position at Doncaster behind the Joseph O’Brien-trained Galileo Chrome and should enjoy testing conditions at the Berkshire venue.

Also in action on Saturday in the Group Three Cumberland Lodge Stakes (2.30pm) at Ascot is Logician (1/2) who won the 2019 St Leger and returned to action with a smooth success in a conditions event at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting on his first start this season.

Weekend NAP: 2:30: Ascot (Friday): Berkshire Rocco (4/6)

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